After decades as doctor, I see through the Fauci controversy
The Washington Post reports:
Regarding Megan McArdle’s Aug. 3 column “America doesn’t need an investigation over Fauci’s diary”:
I have practiced as an infectious disease physician for almost 35 years, and I agree with McArdle that there is no reasonable point to be made publishing Anthony S. Fauci’s personal diary notes (even though they were created on a government computer). Of course, hindsight is 20/20, and it would have been great to have developed a perfect test and treatment and isolation protocols in January 2020, but we live in the real world.
Developing an accurate diagnostic test from scratch is not rocket science; it’s arguably harder. A very accurate at-home test was developed and approved by the Food and Drug Administration in November 2020, just about 10 months after the SARS-CoV-2 genome sequence was made public. In comparison, it took three years and nine months to approve the first commercial HIV blood test after AIDS was first officially described in June 1981.
And masks were not routinely recommended until April 2020 because respiratory viruses like influenza were not known to be spread through small droplets like tuberculosis. The response to the virus changed in real time because scientists’ understanding of the virus evolved over time.
That the tests and isolation protocols were not perfect is a testament to the technological hurdles and challenge of confronting an unprecedented public health emergency. But they saved many lives. Public servants like Fauci and the scientists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health deserve our high praise, not the baseless attacks we have witnessed too many times in recent days.
Jeffrey Sartin, Omaha
Megan McArdle’s Aug. 3 column expressed sympathy for Anthony S. Fauci “for refusing to risk a perjury charge” and for conservatives “for still being mad” at Fauci’s policies. She made the point that the blame game serves no one. Sure, but McArdle overlooked Fauci’s actions in suppressing opposing opinions and stifling debate, and the crucial role of a robust, independent press.
As the Editorial Board wrote in its Aug. 1 editorial, “Democracy doesn’t require truth police”: Censorship “insulted the intelligence of the American people, who can make up their own minds without being told what to think.” It concluded: “Stifling unpopular ideas usually backfires.”
The covid-19 backfire damaged the press’s credibility as much as Fauci’s.
Joseph A. Capone, Oakton
The facts of covid
Covid-19 is one of many coronaviruses. Coronaviruses infect different species and are capable of mutating and infecting a new host, like humans. In recent history there are two examples: SARS and MERS.
The origin of severe acute respiratory syndrome was traced to bats in China. Middle East respiratory syndrome originated from camels. Once a respiratory virus switches to humans, it may spread very fast because humans are not yet immune. Respiratory viruses can spread quickly. Covid-19 fits the established pattern. It is a novel virus that switched to humans and spread rapidly.
Oscar Stine, Shepherdstown, West Virginia
The writer is a retired professor of epidemiology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.
Regarding Megan McArdle’s Aug. 3 column “America doesn’t need an investigation over Fauci’s diary”:
I have practiced as an infectious disease physician for almost 35 years, and I agree with McArdle that there is no reasonable point to be made publishing Anthony S. Fauci’s personal diary notes (even though they were created on a government computer). Of course, hindsight is 20/20, and it would have been great to have developed a perfect test and treatment and isolation protocols in January 2020, but we live in the real world.
Developing an accurate diagnostic test from scratch is not rocket science; it’s arguably harder. A very accurate at-home test was developed and approved by the Food and Drug Administration in November 2020, just about 10 months after the SARS-CoV-2 genome sequence was made public. In comparison, it took three years and nine months to approve the first commercial HIV blood test after AIDS was first officially described in June 1981.
And masks were not routinely recommended until April 2020 because respiratory viruses like influenza were not known to be spread through small droplets like tuberculosis. The response to the virus changed in real time because scientists’ understanding of the virus evolved over time.
That the tests and isolation protocols were not perfect is a testament to the technological hurdles and challenge of confronting an unprecedented public health emergency. But they saved many lives. Public servants like Fauci and the scientists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health deserve our high praise, not the baseless attacks we have witnessed too many times in recent days.
Jeffrey Sartin, Omaha
Megan McArdle’s Aug. 3 column expressed sympathy for Anthony S. Fauci “for refusing to risk a perjury charge” and for conservatives “for still being mad” at Fauci’s policies. She made the point that the blame game serves no one. Sure, but McArdle overlooked Fauci’s actions in suppressing opposing opinions and stifling debate, and the crucial role of a robust, independent press.
As the Editorial Board wrote in its Aug. 1 editorial, “Democracy doesn’t require truth police”: Censorship “insulted the intelligence of the American people, who can make up their own minds without being told what to think.” It concluded: “Stifling unpopular ideas usually backfires.”
The covid-19 backfire damaged the press’s credibility as much as Fauci’s.
Joseph A. Capone, Oakton
The facts of covid
Covid-19 is one of many coronaviruses. Coronaviruses infect different species and are capable of mutating and infecting a new host, like humans. In recent history there are two examples: SARS and MERS.
The origin of severe acute respiratory syndrome was traced to bats in China. Middle East respiratory syndrome originated from camels. Once a respiratory virus switches to humans, it may spread very fast because humans are not yet immune. Respiratory viruses can spread quickly. Covid-19 fits the established pattern. It is a novel virus that switched to humans and spread rapidly.
Oscar Stine, Shepherdstown, West Virginia
The writer is a retired professor of epidemiology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.
