Covid-19: Treatments, Cures, and Vaccines

Not sure who this clown is, but he lost any credibility when attacked the fact that Chloroquine can and does cause heart problems. Because even MERCK has the warning on their website....so....whatever.

Also, shouldn't a doctor know that a steroid is NOT an anti-viral. It is not a cure. It treats one potential symptom while allowing the body to cure itself.

Finally, if he were a real doctor who knows anything about current standard of care across the United States, inhaled/swallowed/injected steroids are now part of the standard of care for hospitalized patients.

Like Chloroquine, I have no doubt that some select subset of patients respond well to this medication. However, shame on him for peddling something that has no proof.

 

Large scale trial on Chloroquine

Brazil is all in.

Special Report: Bolsonaro bets 'miraculous cure' for COVID-19 can save Brazil - and his life

 

And, if it is controlled well, and a well designed study, I have no doubt that there is much there to learn. However, with most research that is done well, it is going to take time and effort and well constructed DOE's to allow researchers to draw proper, meaningful conclusions.

I am still hoping that some properly constructed trial will eventually unlock the value/benefits of this drug in combating COVID-19 if there are truly benefits and we can add this to the tools at the disposal of medical professionals.

 

Russian firm claims that their drug for mild or medium severity COVID-19 cases will block virus replication in the body. "By the firth day......coronavirus had been eliminated in 77.5% of patients who took the drug."

Russian firm gets approval for drug said to block coronavirus replication

 

I'll believe that when a large scale independent study is done.

 

FDA officials may finally be taking a more measured, science based stand and less worried about "Warp Speed".

Want to defeat COVID-19? Deliver a 70% effective vaccine—and get 70% of people to take it, FDA official says

 

Not sure that ever happens, but do not doubt that the Russians have absolutely brilliant bio/medical minds. In many fields the Soviet Union had some truly brilliant theoretical scientists, it always their lab work that was constrained by resources, which hopefully have improved greatly since then. So, I would not be shocked if they found a drug that was effective.

 

I have a Bulgarian co-worker, a former Soviet-era PhD in theoretical physics of transistors. He has sworn up and down that his mother's medicine from WWII could knock out this virus and many other viruses. I thought he was just pulling me leg or romanticizing something about his mother. Then I stumbled across this story today......damned if he might not turn out to be right!

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-07-cold-war-antiseptic-potential-drug-resistant.html

 

I hope the distribution to the states is not weaponized or politicized...

 

This will be huge news on the treatment front if it can be verified and repeated without deadly side effects.

Israel announces antibody that neutralizes coronavirus, even amongst infected.

 

Big, and welcome, news if true

ummm..did they forget a NOT in this statement. that is some pretty bad editing review

The scientific development would be made up of a few proteins that are (NOT??)) harmful to the human body and has already been tested on patients with risky cases of coronavirus.

 

I was wondering the same thing.

 

Not necessarily? Chemo is harmful to the body.

 

British drugmaker Astra Zeneca is testing an anti-body treatment meant to protect the most vulnerable until a vaccine (if a vaccine) becomes available or those that the vaccine will not work for.

Coronavirus UK: Antibody treatment trials to prepare for 'second wave' | Metro News

 

I am not sure what "fast tracking" means exactly for vaccine candidates, but for some reason, it just does not seem to jive with the concept of "thoroughly vetted for safety". Further, I just cannot help keep thinking of the Resident Evil video game/ movie franchise with all of this discussion of messenger-RNA and T-Cell activation.

Pfizer and BioNTech Granted FDA Fast Track Designation for Two Investigational mRNA-based Vaccine Candidates Against SARS-CoV-2 | BioNTech

 

Sobering thoughts from the head man at Merck at the likelihood of finding a vaccine any time soon.

Merck CEO Ken Frazier Discusses a COVID Cure, Racism, and Why Leaders Need to Walk the Talk

 

This is big news

Moderna's Covid-19 Vaccine Moves to Bigger Study

New details about the first human study of Moderna Inc.’s experimental coronavirus vaccine emerged Tuesday, which researchers said reinforced their decision to take the shot into a large, decisive clinical trial scheduled to start in late July.

The new results, published online by the New England Journal of Medicine, showed that the vaccine induced the desired immune response for all 45 people evaluated—a larger group than in the preliminary data Moderna released in May—and was generally safe and well-tolerated.

“This is really quite good news,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said in an interview Tuesday. NIAID co-developed the Moderna vaccine and led the study. “The gold standard of protection against a viral infection is neutralizing antibodies,” he said. “And the data from the study, small numbers as it may be, are pretty clear that this vaccine is capable of inducing quite good [levels] of neutralizing antibodies.”

Researchers said they found no serious safety risks, though some participants had injection-site pain and symptoms such as fatigue, headache and chills.

 

I wonder how many test subjects that they need to evaluate to determine if this (or any vaccine candidate) were produce side effects like Guillian-Barre Syndrome? According to CDC, approximately 1 in 100,000 in this country develop it every year (not from vaccines, but from several likely contributing infections, but also including vaccines). Also according the CDC, it is much more likely to occur in people like me, over 50, so wonder what Moderna's age distribution in their July Phase 3 trial will look like?

 

they are launching 30k trial late July. They did trials with older people and results are still under evaluation. posted more about it in the US thread