The latest political wrangle about “the government” telling you what to do is the proposed federal mandate from President Biden on Sept. 9 to require private sector workers in companies with over 100 employees to get a COVID vaccination or be tested for COVID regularly. This has a segment of…
Can COVID-19 infection cause erectile dysfunction (ED) in males? The topic was raised in earlier COVID times. Now there are two threads of indirect evidence that have come up from two different research papers. It cannot be said yet that the virus causes ED unequivocally. However, the virus …
Question: I drive a school bus and am a retired firefighter. Recently one of our buses was stopped—8 ways on, stop signs deployed—when two fire apparatus approached red lights and sirens. The apparatus did not slow and sped past the bus. I’ve always said regardless of what type of emergency …
Question: Why are LOUD motorcycles allowed to operate on Minnesota highways?
A recent article from the Aug. 27, Minneapolis Star-Tribune discussed the increase in a respiratory viral infection that can be confused with COVID-19, and usually peaks during the winter months.
A Trooper in Southern Minnesota recently took a report from a concerned bicyclist and asked to have this information passed along. This person rides bicycle, has a flashing white light to the front and flashing red light to the rear, wears a helmet, has a mirror, follows the rules of the roa…
Mu is the current COVID-19 viral variant of interest getting so much news of late. It is pronounced myoo (or mew?), using the Greek alphabet classification adopted for these mutations of SARS-CoV-2. Originally, they were labeled, and still are in science circles, by a much more cumbersome sc…
Question: I see vehicles go by with extended carriers attached to their hitch with several full gas cans. We discuss what could happen if a driver was not paying attention and ran into one such vehicle. How safe can this be? Is there any laws in place that makes this unlawful?
At the end of July, the CDC made new mask recommendations for mask wearing because lots more people were getting infected, going to the hospital, and dying from COVID-19. In general, they are saying to mask up indoors in public places, especially in areas where cases are increasing. They als…
It seems lately that ivermectin has been in news pieces more often than before, becoming a political football discussed and extolled by street corner and legislative non-medical preachers of the medical word as a miracle for prevention and/or treatment of SARS-CoV-2 infections. It is approve…
Is there a day that goes by when we can avoid thinking about the SARS-CoV-2 (SCV2) virus and COVID-19? Not unless you live under a rock.
In trying to urge someone to get a COVID vaccination for the person’s well being and that of all his/her contacts, one objection raised was that the vaccines involved products from abortions. In doing the computer search for the subject, the references were prolific, and overall in agreement…
The COVID-19 virus(es) keep teaching us. They keep mutating and evolving and changing the rules to favor their survival. And, we have to keep learning from what they are doing to us, not just what they have done to us. A new study in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Review from Kentu…
What a difference a week makes. Last week, a medical columnist (me) wrote, “A vaccinated person COVID, the disease far less to the uninfected or unvaccinated. In the case of Covid it appears that a vaccinated person with a ‘breakthrough infection’ has a far lower amount of virus in secretion…
Vaccines protect you, your loved ones and the community members where you live. In the evolving COVID pandemic, our thoughts go primarily to the mRNA vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna, the prevalent ones here. But it is true for all the other successful vaccines over time which have eradicate…
The initial symptoms of COVID-19 infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus that originated in Wuhan, China, were high temperature, new continuous cough, fatigue, sore throat, loss of taste and/or smell, shortness of breath, nausea or/and vomiting, and diarrhea. But things are-a-changin’ with the n…
There have been a few newer news articles about yet another Sars-CoV-2 viral variant, labeled Lambda. The name for the virus was derived by the World Health Organization viral experts who chose to “simplify” the confusing Covid viral variants by assigning them Greek alphabet letters as varia…
Idaho is a 10-year-old or older, black and white, neutered male.
The news and information about the SARS-Cov-2 coronavirus delta variant (cDv) is currently swamping us. Since the viral story is very fluid as the virus keeps us guessing, we’ll try to distill some points about it at this juncture. The labels being used for the mutations as they arise follow…
Odie is a 5-year-old, white with brown, spayed female.
It’s time for a break from COVID columns. A new case of a rare syndrome called foreign accent syndrome (FAS) was recently reported in various news services. It was experienced by a 28-year-old Asian-Australian woman from Brisbane (Australia), whose normal “accent” was of that country. She ha…
A unique study of brain radiology imaging of people before and after COVID-19 infections was just released in “pre-print” edition in an online report called MedRxiv, a site that is for such papers in their embryonic stage before being peer-reviewed. The results underlined the urgent need for…
Questions have arisen about the need for a COVID vaccination if you already had a primary or natural infection. At this point in our learning from the virus, we aren’t sure. We’ll cite a few opinions from experts to illustrate the somewhat differing views. The essential problem in giving a d…
Bishop William Callahan, bishop of La Crosse, has asked for the resignation of Father James Altman, Pastor of St. James Church, La Crosse. On May 23, Altman told parishioners that the bishop had labeled him as “divisive and ineffective.”
Franklin is a 8-year-old, neutered male, Boxer mix who is current on vaccinations. Franklin is a mellow senior boy looking for the ultimate retirement home! He came in as a stray with another large senior dog and they get along great. He does exhibit some resource guarding behaviors so he is…
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