Ma-Ma-Ma-My Corona

I'm sitting here trying to recall the first day I ever heard mention of the Coronavirus, which was then known by a different name. It can't have been more than a month ago, I feel like, Yet, whenever it was, gyms were still open. People of all ages frequented grocery stores without donning masks on their faces. Pick up and delivery weren't the only dining out options (if you can even call it dining "out" anymore). Things felt as normal as they ever did, and yet today was the first time I felt the change in the tides.

I am fortunate enough to be able to work from home, so home is where I have been. This has been tough as I truly love going into the office and I miss my coworkers. But I've been muddling through. Each day starting around mid-March things began to get more difficult. One of my beloved climbing gyms closed. Then another announced its closure. Then another gym, and another. I started trying to work out at home, but it simply isn't the same. For me, the hardest part is probably the closure of my climbing gyms.

I have started to feel the isolation. Today I went to the grocery store after not having left the house in days and it just felt bizarre. I couldn't come up with the right word for the shift in the worldly winds until my friend called it "surreal." It was surreal. The constant PA announcements to abide by social distancing, the signs all over the store announcing different hours, almost every individual inside wearing a mask, and signs on the doors of restaurants announcing that only five people were allowed inside to pick up orders at once, or saying they were only doing drive through and delivery.

The world feels surreal. Talk show hosts are live from inside their homes instead of in front of studio audiences. On one of my favorite Podcasts, they did their first episode over Skype with their guest to stay safe. Yet in spite of the surrealism, the guest on that episode, Sanjay Gupta, said something hopeful. Surprisingly, considering that the Dr. Gupta has been working like 20 hour days and said he hasn't really slept for more than three hours in six weeks.

"This is nobody's fault. This is a pathogen that's circumnavigating the globe, it does not respect borders or boundaries it does not discriminate against young or old, men or women, cultures around the world are all at risk from this and we all have a certain obligation or duty to try and do our part to stop this. So I don't think there are many things that bring the world together like this, potentially...it really can do something that is intimately good for the world."

He then talked about how interesting it has been to observe peoples' behavior and how we are more extrinsically than intrinsically motivated to take care of ourselves. For example, how people who found out they weren't in a high risk carrier could still pass it on to others have started to take steps to stay healthy. He talked about how interesting it is evolutionarily that we are caring about others and it isn't "survival of the fittest," and that maybe humans have evolved in a way to realize we need to care for others and need to work together. He told this story of an ER doctor who has been sleeping in his garage because he doesn't want to expose his family and how heartbreaking it is to hear that he couldn't even hug his newborn baby.

Here's the whole podcast: https://armchairexpertpod.com/pods/sanjay-gupta-on-covid-19 

Saving the World, One Fungal Infection at a Time

Since we arrived over a week ago, the younger boys at the different monasteries have all had strange, white, powdery-looking spots with no hair on their scalps. Maree, the wife in the New Zealand couple, and I had piqued curiosities which, of course, led us right to Google to see if it was some sort of infectious, contagious disease. Maree guessed from the start that it was ringworm, but I felt unsure about this diagnosis as I thought ringworm appeared as raised, red, bullseye-like marks on the arm.

"White spots on scalp" yielded photos closely resembling the heads of the mini monks, and the descriptions generally referred to the ailment as "scalp psoriasis." Maree and I were satisfied with this diagnosis for a few days, but the fact that there was no improvement in their condition along with the fact that psoriasis is not contagious and all the little boys had it led me to question our conclusion. After I searched "ringworm of the scalp," I knew that Maree's gut sense was correct. According to the website, scalp ringworm is common among children in unclean conditions (I would not be surprised if the kids shower once a month maximum, and wear the same clothes daily) and closely resembles psoriasis. Ding ding, we have a winner!

Of course, the fact that our students have ringworm coupled with the information that another class of kids has scabies did not bode well for a someone like me who is overly paranoid about contracting a crazy illness. Thankfully, it turns out that scalp ringworm can only be contracted by children whose immune systems have not developed enough to fight off the fungus. Specifically, according to patient.co.uk, "scalp ringworm mainly affects young children. It is uncommon in adults. This is thought to be because the normal skin oil (sebum) that increases on the scalp after puberty (in the teenage years) has properties that make it resistant to fungi." Yay for puberty!

Had Maree and I not pointed out to one of the school administrators that the young boys' heads were covered in chalky-looking spots, they may never have noticed. After we told him, he immediately arranged for them to go to the doctor to obtain the necessary medication. The chances of seven boys under age 12 remembering to take anti-fungal meds? Considering they never bathe, I'd say not good. At least, thanks to our persuasiveness, they have the cure in their possession and hopefully someone harasses them to take it.