Coronavirus treatment options and the impact on public policy

ANC said:

I don't think the plasma is supposed to be green.

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Mine certainly is ... probably because of the huge amount of pot I've grown and ingested.

rollitup said:

Mine certainly is ... probably because of the huge amount of pot I've grown and ingested.

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A pint of yer plasma could do wonders for someone... I figure if most members here donate convalescent plasma the recipient will get a buzz for sure.

Vaccine Tests Should Have Results By 'Early June': Oxford Professor | Meet The Press | NBC News
In an exclusive interview with Meet the Press, Prof. Sir John Bell Regius Professor of Medicine, Oxford University, tells Chuck Todd that research into a vaccine is making fast progress

FDA OKs Antibody Test That Claims Near-Perfect Accuracy

FINGERS CROSSED

The promise of coronavirus antibody tests has been hampered by reports that many are inaccurate. Now the Food and Drug Administration has given emergency authorization to a test developed by drug giant Roche, which says preliminary sampling of 6,000 people showed it is 100 percent accurate in determining whether someone has COVID-19 antibodies, which means they were infected in the past. Roche says the tests are 99.8 percent accurate in ruling out antibodies, The Wall Street Journal reports. If these results hold up, it could be a major breakthrough because many epidemiologists say widespread antibody testing would provide crucial data for determining whether to ease up on lockdowns.

Will 60% Get Coronavirus? w Stephen Fry.

Will coronavirus keep resurging until we reach herd immunity, with 60% of the population infected? Or can we hold it back until a vaccine is available?

Remdesiver is just more bullshit, it does not change the mortality rate for severe cases,only shortens recovery time if you're already going to recover. It's more like tamiflu,you need to take it at the first sign of infection, not after you have a full blown infection. Without widespread rapid testing how would you know to take it early. I think the trial was compromised and it's just another bullshit money grab.

captainmorgan said:

Remdesiver is just more bullshit, it does not change the mortality rate for severe cases,only shortens recovery time if you're already going to recover. It's more like tamiflu,you need to take it at the first sign of infection, not after you have a full blown infection. Without widespread rapid testing how would you know to take it early. I think the trial was compromised and it's just another bullshit money grab.

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We will know more when the trial study is released and that should be soon, the scientists are excited by it, so it gives me confidence, wait and see, we won't have to wait long. I believe it will make a difference, even to those on ventilators because it has in trial studies.

Strangely the Trump crowd doesn't like it for some reason, they prefer HCQ and Clorox.

The original goal of the study was to see if it reduced mortality rates, it did not. Then they changed the study to if it shortens recovery time. They are just trying to put a positive spin on it so they can sell a lot of it. It will help if taken early but without widespread rapid testing it won't help many people but the company will make a boat load of money,the drug has side effects too. They did a study in Europe that showed all the patients with severe cases had low vitamin D levels, telling every one to take vitamin d would be more helpful than remdesiver.

In the US, obesity seems to be the number one pre existing condition that will mean a severe case or death. They've figured out that after it enters your lungs it attacks the circulatory system. High blood pressure and cholesterol along with diabetes and heart disease weaken the circulatory system and all are a result of obesity. It's causing blood clots throughout the body and I think that's causing more damage than the lung issues and may be the reason for immune system over reaction and organ damage from lack of oxygen. People are having strokes and limbs amputated, covid toes is a sign of this.

captainmorgan said:

The original goal of the study was to see if it reduced mortality rates, it did not. Then they changed the study to if it shortens recovery time. They are just trying to put a positive spin on it so they can sell a lot of it. It will help if taken early but without widespread rapid testing it won't help many people but the company will make a boat load of money,the drug has side effects too. They did a study in Europe that showed all the patients with severe cases had low vitamin D levels, telling every one to take vitamin d would be more helpful than remdesiver.

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They came in just under the mortality effect in the study and it may depend on when the course of treatment is given, as I said we will have to wait for more data, the experts wouldn't be this hopeful. There are also monkey studies with covid-19 and it worked with SARS etc, so we need to hold off a bit both in saying it works or it does not. I'm optimistic that it will be of value and we will know much more soon, the data for this treatment and convalescent plasma is starting to come in.

I'm surprised there is not more publicity and public education about the importance of vitamin D, I noted the shelf at the local store was almost cleaned out a few day ago, so somebody is getting educated. I figure many of the bad outcomes for covid-19, particularly among younger people might be chronic low levels of vitamin D. Black folks have the lowest levels of all and chronic low levels are also associated with many of the comorbidities that plague the community and high mortality rates in general.

captainmorgan said:

In the US, obesity seems to be the number one pre existing condition that will mean a severe case or death. They've figured out that after it enters your lungs it attacks the circulatory system. High blood pressure and cholesterol along with diabetes and heart disease weaken the circulatory system and all are a result of obesity. It's causing blood clots throughout the body and I think that's causing more damage than the lung issues and may be the reason for immune system over reaction and organ damage from lack of oxygen. People are having strokes and limbs amputated, covid toes is a sign of this.

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The more body fat you have the more vitamin D you need, it's absorbed by the fat

I've been telling everyone to take vitamin C with Echinacea, vitamin D and Zinc, all easy to find and cheap.

There are some other supplements worth taking but they're pricier and harder to get these days.

captainmorgan said:

I've been telling everyone to take vitamin C with Echinacea, vitamin D and Zinc, all easy to find and cheap.

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Vitamin D also reduces the likelihood of ARDS among other nasty things, Vitamin C helps with the toxic shock associated with it too. I'm not sure if zinc will help much, you could take quercetin to help with zinc absorption, though I don't think zinc is the way to go.

Zinc is important in the cells built in mechanism to inhibit viral reproduction. Quercetin and some fungi were also on my list of worth taking.

Skin rashes and Covid toes.

captainmorgan said:

Skin rashes and Covid toes.

More than 'covid toes': Numerous reports of skin rashes tied to COVID-19

Reports of skin rashes in patients with COVID-19 are cropping up around the world.

www.livescience.com

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Another anomaly to add to the list of clotting, rashes and mental problems. At least ya go happy...


Mysterious coronavirus condition ‘happy hypoxia’ baffles doctors

A strange phenomenon dubbed “happy hypoxia” has baffled doctors treating coronavirus patients who describe themselves as comfortable despite dangerously low oxygen levels that would typically leave them unconscious, or even dead, according to reports.

The mysterious condition that appears to defy basic biology is raising questions about how COVID-19 attacks the lungs, the Guardian reported.

While a healthy person’s blood-oxygen saturation is at least 95 percent, doctors have reported some coronavirus-stricken patients with levels in the 80s or 70s — with some extreme cases below 50 percent, according to the outlet.

And yet these so-called “happy hypoxics” have been observed scrolling on their phones, chatting with their health care providers and describing themselves as generally comfortable, Science Magazine reported.

“There is a mismatch [between] what we see on the monitor and what the patient looks like in front of us,” Dr. Reuben Strayer, an emergency physician at Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn, told the magazine from his home as he recovered from the illness himself.

Strayer said he and other doctors are seeking to understand the odd condition, which he first noticed in March as patients streamed into his ER, and how to treat it.

Dr. Jonathan Bannard-Smith, a critical care specialist at the Manchester Royal Infirmary in the UK, told the Guardian that some patients are unaware that their oxygen saturations are so low.

“We wouldn’t usually see this phenomenon in influenza or community-acquired pneumonia,” he said. “It’s very much more profound and an example of very abnormal physiology going on before our eyes.”

He added: “It’s intriguing to see so many people coming in, quite how hypoxic they are.”

Another British physician said people would ordinarily appear to be extremely ill with other lung conditions that could cause severe hypoxia.

“With pneumonia or a pulmonary embolism they wouldn’t be sat up in bed talking to you,” Dr. Mike Charlesworth of Wythenshawe hospital in Manchester told the Guardian.

“We just don’t understand it. We don’t know if it’s causing organ damage that we’re not able to detect. We don’t understand if the body’s compensating,” added the doctor, who also was infected with COVID-19.
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They are donating the first 200,000 treatment courses (5 day), nothing sells like a free sample of something that you figure works. The latest trial was discontinued for the placebo group on the recommendation of an independent body who were doing the data analysis, for ethical reasons and the placebo group given the medication too. They will use "historical" controls for the study because of ethical concerns. The studies will continue however and more data will be forthcoming soon and into the future.
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Coronavirus treatment drug remdesivir to arrive in hospitals this week, Gilead CEO says

Remdesivir, the first possible scientifically proven treatment for battling COVID-19, will become available for U.S. hospitals in the coming week, says the CEO of the biotech company producing the drug.

Daniel O'Day, CEO and chairman of Gilead Sciences, provided the update Sunday on the CBS News program "Face the Nation." He said that the Foster City, California-headquartered company had donated 1.5 million vials to the U.S. government, enough to treat 150,000 to 200,000 patients.

Federal health officials will outlay the drug "based on things like ICU beds, where the course of the epidemic is in the United States," O'Day said. "They will begin shipping tens of thousands of treatment courses out early this week and be adjusting that as the epidemic shifts and evolves in different cities."
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The F.D.A. says companies selling antibody tests must prove accuracy within 10 days.

The Food and Drug Administration announced on Monday that companies selling coronavirus antibody tests must submit data proving accuracy within the next 10 days or face removal from the market.

The antibody tests are an effort to detect whether a person had been infected with the virus, but results have been widely varied and little is known about whether those who became ill will develop immunity and, if so, for how long.
Since mid-March, the agency has permitted dozens of manufacturers to sell the tests without providing evidence that they are accurate — and many are wildly off the mark.

The F.D.A.’s action follows a report by more than 50 scientists, which found that only three out of 14 antibody tests gave consistently reliable results, and even the best had flaws. An evaluation by the National Institutes of Health has also found “a concerning number” of commercial tests that are performing poorly, the agency said.

Around the globe, government and health officials have hoped that antibody tests would be a critical tool to help determine when it would be safe to lift stay-at-home restrictions and reopen businesses. The highly infectious Covid-19 disease has now killed nearly 70,000 people and sickened more than 1.1 million in the United States alone.

While 11 companies have been given F.D.A. clearance to sell the antibody tests, many other products do not have agency authorization. The result has been a confusing landscape in which tests by established companies such as Abbott Laboratories, Cellex and most recently, Roche Diagnostics, are competing with unapproved tests made by unknown companies and sold by U.S. distributors with spotty track records.
In a statement on Monday, Dr. Anand Shah, the F.D.A. deputy commissioner for medical and scientific affairs, and Dr. Jeffrey Shuren, director of the Center for Devices and Radiological Health, defended the agency’s initial policy saying the tests were never intended to be used as the sole basis for determining whether anyone had been infected.

“We unfortunately see unscrupulous actors marketing fraudulent test kits and using the pandemic as an opportunity to take advantage of Americans’ anxiety,” they said in the statement. “Some test developers have falsely claimed their serology tests are F.D.A. approved or authorized. Others have false claimed that their tests can diagnose Covid-19 or that they are for at-home testing.”

Dr. Shah and Dr. Shuren also pointed to the N.I.H. evaluation that showed a number of tests producing faulty results. The F.D.A. declined to provide details on the number of tests that were studied, or how many did not work. They also said that the F.D.A. is reviewing more than 200 antibody tests to determine whether they work well enough to get the agency’s go-ahead.