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Medicine Politics Popular culture Science

COVID-19 and “super-spreaders”

Evidence is emerging suggesting that COVID-19 does not spread equally. A minority of infected individuals seem to spread the virus easily to many people, while most infected individuals spread it to few others or no one at all, likely through a combination of circumstance, environment, and possibly biology. Why is this, and what does it mean for coronavirus containment strategies?

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Antivaccine nonsense Bad science Medicine Pseudoscience Skepticism/critical thinking

AAPS: A crank medical “association” promotes COVID-19 disinformation

The AAPS is a far right-wing crank medical organization. Unsurprisingly, it’s all in with COVID-19 disinformation and pseudoscience.

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Medicine Popular culture Science Skepticism/critical thinking

“COVID parties”: Almost certainly an urban legend

There have been stories of “COVID parties,” where young people intentionally try to catch COVID-19. They are almost certainly urban legends.

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Cancer Medicine Pseudoscience Quackery

False Hope: A BBC documentary throws a light on cancer quackery

Earlier this week, BBC Three broadcast “False Hope,” a documentary exposing cancer quacks. Sadly, some things never change, and alternative cancer cure stories show how easy it is to fall prey to quacks.

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Clinical trials Medicine Personal Politics Popular culture Skepticism/critical thinking

Henry Ford Hospital hydroxychloroquine trial: Not good evidence that the drug works for COVID-19

Recently, Henry Ford Hospital published a study of hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19 that showed a benefit. Unfortunately, it was a bias-prone retrospective study. That didn’t stop President Trump from touting the drug again.