Covid: Why most of what you know is wrong
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- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2021-05-08 10:52:42
- Update Date：2025-09-07
- Status：finish
- Author：Sebastian Rushworth
- ISBN：9188729834
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Reviews
Al
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Confirmation of suspicionsClear， understandable presentation of what is really know and unknown about the disease， the ineffectiveness of shutdowns and masks， and the relative effectiveness and safety
Bill Leach
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Rushworth is a Swedish physician who examines medical issues from a scientific point of view。 His conclusions on medical issues are far more enlightening than the politically driven guidance from government sources and the wide-eyed sensationalism from the media。He describes his investigation of some of the guidelines given to him as his "bible" in the last year of medical school， finding many of them to be "complete nonsense"。 "Just the word chosen showed clearly that this was not science we we Rushworth is a Swedish physician who examines medical issues from a scientific point of view。 His conclusions on medical issues are far more enlightening than the politically driven guidance from government sources and the wide-eyed sensationalism from the media。He describes his investigation of some of the guidelines given to him as his "bible" in the last year of medical school， finding many of them to be "complete nonsense"。 "Just the word chosen showed clearly that this was not science we were being taught， it was religion。The author relates the history of COVID in Sweden to the end of 2020 （the book was published March 2021）。 Spring restrictions on gathering sizes and distancing were removed in August as the number of cases appeared to have peaked， with children returning to school and nursing homes opening up。 However， in late 2020 the government instituted even greater restrictions in spite of the severity of cases being less than in the spring。 He attributes the change in policy to yielding to pressure or perhaps capitalizing on opinion polls。Scientific studies range in quality from the lowest anecdotal evidence， through observational studies to Randomized Controlled Trials （RCT） that should feature double blind use of a placebo for the control group。 Various "tricks" can detract from the quality of studies such as the choice of endpoints and the population included in the studies。 “Per-protocol analysis” studies only follow those that participate to the end of the study， thus missing any that drop out due to side effects， while the “intention to treat” studies include everyone。Rushford provides a quick primer in statistics， discussing p-values which are used to determine whether the test result is statistically valid。 Relative risk can often suggest greater benefit than absolute risk。 His example is a fictitious drug that decreases ones five year absolute risk of having a heart attack from 0。2% to 0。1% - not a huge overall gain - while the decrease in relative risk is 50%， an apparently more significant number。The average mortality in Sweden in 2020 was only 5% higher than the average for the preceding five years。 The average person who dies from Covid is over 80 years old and has multiple underlying health conditions。 The years of life lost are therefore relatively small。 Among frail elderly people， rhinovirus （colds） is actually more deadly than regular influenza。 One study showed that the 30 day mortality for frail elderly people admitted to hospital due to a rhinovirus infection was 10%， while for frail elderly people admitted to hospital due to influenza， 30 day mortality was 7%。 In the reporting， many COVID deaths ware reported for those that died with it， as opposed to those that died with it。Post-viral syndrome， a condition that has been known about for decades， affects some people after a viral respiratory infection， and that is primarily characterized by intense fatigue。 Some studies have found that almost 60% of people treated in intensive care （for any condition， not COVID specifically） still have cognitive impairments twelve months after being discharged。 Rushford's assessment is that long COVID is likely some form of Post-viral syndrome， and is not unique to COVID。The PCR test is commonly used to detect COVID。 The number of cycles is critical with the probability of a false positive increasing exponentially after 24 cycles to 40 cycles where it will almost certainly produce false positives。 As the number of cycles is not stated， this can result in incorrect assignments of death to COVID。 The antibody test which can determine where someone has had COVID in the past。 However， it takes the body some time after infection to produce antibodies。Test accuracy is a matter that most people don't consider。 Sensitivity is the probability that a disease will be detected if the person actually has the disease。 Specificity is the rate of false positives。 Studies have varied by on average shown sensitivity to be 88 percent and specificity of 97 percent but possibly as high as 99 percent。 Using 88 and 97 percent， in a situation where 1 in 10 of the population are infected， the test would pick up 88 of the 100 infected and would give false positives for 27 of the 900 not infected。 Worse， if only 1 in 1000 are infected， the test would pick up 9 of the 10 infected， but give false positives for 30 - 77% of positive results will be false positives！ A major problem with the reporting of cases is that the number of tests carried out is never specified， so it is impossible to know whether increasing positives are due to increased testing。 Similarly， the antibody testing has been largely ignored in spite of the fact that it would show the buildup of immunity in the population。The author examines a study that sought to understand which factors correlate， on a country level， with Covid related outcomes。 On a country wide basis， it showed a statistically significant relation between COVID deaths and obesity， age of the population and income disparity。 No correlation was found with lockdowns， border closures or mass testing。 Rushworth looks at why Sweden had a higher death rate than its Nordic neighbours， concluding that it was due to the timing of their spring holiday， a larger ethnic minority population， and a larger nursing home population。 Interesting note that most of the doctors in the U。K。 who died of COVID were dark skinned。 It is known that those who have dark skins and living in the low light climate of the U。K。 tend to become vitamin D deficient， possibly making them more susceptible to COVID。 "Maybe the fact that important decisions about how to handle the pandemic during the spring of 2020 were made by professional epidemiologists rather than by politicians has also played a part in causing Sweden to move in a different direction from most other countries， with measures in large part being driven by scientific evidence rather than by populism。"Rushworth says "You would think that governments always do a cost benefit analysis before embarking on a certain course of action 。。。"！ However unrealistic this idea might be， he examines some of the costs of lockdowns including an apparent 8% increase in cardiovascular mortality， a doubling of response time to strokes， and the cost to children of taking them out of school。 He concludes that "lockdown and the fear-mongering that goes with it almost certainly kills many more people than it saves。"The author reviews the studies that have been done on mask effectiveness， concluding that it’s possible that there is a small reduction in risk， in the region of 10–20% relative risk reduction， but the results are not statistically significant and could well be zero。 Surprisingly， if you or someone in your household is sick， you probably don’t need to bother wearing a mask at home as the infection will spread at the same rate within the household regardless。Rushworth looks at the studies of the safety of vaccines， notable for their lack of attention to the elderly and children。 He concludes that the vaccine is not worthwhile for the young and healthy as the risk of getting severe COVID is infinitesimal while side effects may well exist。 For children: "no way" - it is only little over a decade since an influenza vaccine （pandemrix） was rushed through and given to children based on limited evidence， causing hundreds in Europe to develop narcolepsy， a debilitating lifelong disease。 Moreover it is not possible to recommend the vaccine to pregnant and breastfeeding women， people with autoimmune diseases， people with allergies， people with a depressed immune system， or people with serious underlying conditions。Rushworth reviews the world reaction to COVID。 He believes that the Chinese inaccurately portrayed their COVID epidemic in that they claimed to have controlled it through lockdowns。 This caused demands by both the established media and social media for lockdowns to which the politicians responded。 He notes that A hundred years from now， historians will not be talking about COVID as a deadly pandemic， but as an example of how easy it is to induce a state of collective mass hysteria。 。。。more
Uma Vid
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the most of the anwers i had questions for are like served in this book！ sebastian is writing very carefully and wisely how politics and media can shape our opinion on things！ virus is virus like it always is。。。but how we manipulate on data is another。 it s very important who we trust and especually why！ a must read book！
Mike
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The author of this too short explanation of "The Dreaded" is a Swedish E。R。 doctor who explores every aspect of the virus and backs them up with links to publications like New England Journal of Medicine and JAMA。 So， it would be kind of hard to ban the book unless you also banned those periodicals。 However， nobody is promoting the book， hence I am about the 70th person to review （read） the book on GR。 Okay， so cloth masks don't work and better masks barely work， distance protocols don't work， a The author of this too short explanation of "The Dreaded" is a Swedish E。R。 doctor who explores every aspect of the virus and backs them up with links to publications like New England Journal of Medicine and JAMA。 So， it would be kind of hard to ban the book unless you also banned those periodicals。 However， nobody is promoting the book， hence I am about the 70th person to review （read） the book on GR。 Okay， so cloth masks don't work and better masks barely work， distance protocols don't work， and the vaccines。。。？ If you must， go with Moderna， Pfizer is questionable， and Astra Zeneca is a flat out crap shoot， but if you need not， do not。 Now， if you have your hands over your ears going "Na， Na， Na。。。" well， that's your right。 Otherwise， try to find this very important book。 。。。more
MR A
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Highly recommended This book clearly explains how trials are carried out and how the vaccines work。 There are references to support all the claims。 However， the author discusses relative and absolute risk pointing out that it is absolute risk that matters to individuals， but this is ignored when discussing the vaccine trial results。I suspect the final paragraphs about the government policies will turn out to be true。 The problem not discussed is the damage it has done to people and the economy， Highly recommended This book clearly explains how trials are carried out and how the vaccines work。 There are references to support all the claims。 However， the author discusses relative and absolute risk pointing out that it is absolute risk that matters to individuals， but this is ignored when discussing the vaccine trial results。I suspect the final paragraphs about the government policies will turn out to be true。 The problem not discussed is the damage it has done to people and the economy， and perhaps why people are so gullible。 。。。more
Buccmaster
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If more people read this book， we'd be living in a much saner and more reasonable world right now。 Please， if you're experiencing anxiety about Covid， read this book for an evidence-based assessment of the real situation， absent political propaganda of any flavour。 If more people read this book， we'd be living in a much saner and more reasonable world right now。 Please， if you're experiencing anxiety about Covid， read this book for an evidence-based assessment of the real situation， absent political propaganda of any flavour。 。。。more
Steve Birchmore
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This may be the best book I've read on Covid-19。The author is a Swedish doctor who has worked throughout the 'pandemic' in Sweden。 I have from time to time met Dutch and Swedish people and have often been very impressed by their fluency in English。 I am not sure if the author wrote in English or if this is a translation， but the clarity is excellent。The book starts by describing how events unfolded in Sweden and how the political and constitutional framework in Sweden led to Sweden taking a diff This may be the best book I've read on Covid-19。The author is a Swedish doctor who has worked throughout the 'pandemic' in Sweden。 I have from time to time met Dutch and Swedish people and have often been very impressed by their fluency in English。 I am not sure if the author wrote in English or if this is a translation， but the clarity is excellent。The book starts by describing how events unfolded in Sweden and how the political and constitutional framework in Sweden led to Sweden taking a different course to other countries。 The following chapters are:# How to understand Scientific Studies# A quick primer on statistics# How deadly is Covid-19？# What is long Covid？# How accurate are the Covid tests？# Does lockdown prevent Covid deaths？# Why did Sweden have more deaths than other Nordic countries？# What are the harms of lockdowns？# Do face masks stop Covid？# Are the Covid vaccines safe and effective？# Why did the world react so hysterically to Covid？Its a short book， only 137 pages。 I think he is too trusting with the 'vaccines' but other than that it is very well written an easy to understand。 。。。more
Peter Bishop
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