Against “Stay at Home Rule” (Lansing, MI)
(Not a solution)
Medical
experts in Labs seeking cure and vaccine
(The only
solution)
(CNN –
April 16) Covid-19 patients who are getting an experimental drug
called remdesivir have
been recovering quickly, with most going home in days, STAT News reported in a video
conversation about the trial. The patients taking part in a clinical trial of
the drug have all had severe respiratory symptoms and fever, but were able to
leave the hospital after less than a week of treatment, STAT quoted the doctor leading the trial.
The doctor, Dr. Kathleen Mullane,
an infectious disease specialist at the University of Chicago who is leading
the clinical trial, said in the video:
“The best news is that most of our
patients have already been discharged, which is great. We've only had two
patients perish.”
The University of Chicago said
Mullane's comments constituted partial information, saying: “Partial data from an ongoing clinical
trial is by definition incomplete and should never be used to draw conclusions
about the safety or efficacy of a potential treatment that is under
investigation. In this case, information from an internal forum for research
colleagues concerning work in progress was released without authorization.
Drawing any conclusions at this point is premature and scientifically unsound.”
Dr. Mullane
did not immediately respond to a request for comment from CNN.
There is no
approved therapy for the Covid-19, which can cause severe pneumonia and acute
respiratory distress syndrome in some patients. NIH is organizing trials of several drugs and other treatments,
among them remdesivir.
My FYI: The following comes from earlier
reporting on this same subject taken from my notes at the time it was published
… keep articles handy for historical comparison is a good idea.
Laboratory tests (from Gilead
labs) suggest remdesivir is
effective against a wide range of viruses, including SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV, and
Ebola.
The medication was pushed to treat the West
African Ebola virus epidemic of 2013–2016.
Ebola virus: Remdesivir was rapidly pushed through
clinical trials due to the West African Ebola virus epidemic, eventually being
used in at least one human patient despite its early development stage at the
time.
Preliminary results were promising and it was used in the emergency
setting during the Kivu Ebola
epidemic that started in 2018 along with further
clinical trials, until August 2019, when Congolese health officials announced
that it was significantly less effective than monoclonal antibody treatments
such as mAb114 and REGN-EB3. The trials, however,
established its safety profile.
Coronavirus: In late January 2020, in response
to the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic, Gilead began laboratory testing of
remdesivir against SARS-CoV-2, stating that remdesivir had been shown to be
active against SARS and MERS in
animal models of CoV infection.
It also provided remdesivir for treatment
of a “small number of patients” in collaboration with Chinese medical
authorities. Also in late January 2020, remdesivir was administered to the
first U.S. patient confirmed to be infected by SARS-CoV-2, in Snohomish
County, Washington, for compassionate use after he progressed to pneumonia.
While no broad conclusions can be made based on the single treatment, the
patient's condition improved dramatically the next day, and he was
eventually discharged.
Also in late January 2020, Chinese researchers
reported that remdesivir and two others: hydroxychloroquine and
favipiravir, seemed to have “fairly
good inhibitory effects” on SARS-CoV-2 (after exploratory research that
examined 30 drug candidates), after which requests to begin clinical testing
were submitted.
On 6 February 2020, a clinical trial of remdesivir
began in China.
On 17 March 2020, remdesivir was provisionally approved for use for COVID-19 patients
in a serious condition in the Czech Republic.
While no
broad conclusions can be made based on the single treatment, results of
remdesivir treatment of an Italian COVID-19 patient in Genoa, a
79-year-old, were described as successful on 18 March 2020. Other patients also
received the treatment, the results of which are not known.
On that same date,
the WHO announced
the launch of a large four-arm pragmatic clinical trial (SOLIDARITY trial) that
includes one group of patients treated with remdesivir.
On 20 March 2020, it was announced that Cleveland,
Ohio-based University Hospitals would run two clinical trials to test the
effectiveness of remdesivir against coronavirus.
On the same date, Trump announced that remdesivir was
now available for compassionate use by patients that had tested positive for
COVID-19, then FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn confirmed that statement at the
same press conference.
That decision allowed physicians of COVID-19
patients to request permission to use the unapproved drug in the context of
remdesivir's investigational new drug (IND) status, outside of participation in
a formal clinical trial.
On 23 March 2020, Gilead suspended access to
remdesivir for compassionate use (excepting cases of critically ill children
and pregnant women), for reasons related to supply, citing the need to continue
to provide agent for testing in clinical trials.
My 2 cents: The bottom line on all this – yes, we are
all miserable with this life style change – no doubt about, but taking to the streets
like in MI, KY, OK, NC, and IN (and some armed like seen in Lansing, MI)
is NOT the answer or solution – more testing and more drug (cure) trials are
needed and that takes time to get it medically sound, safe, approved, and ready
for wide distribution.
Be assured that that the experts will find and develop
a cure and vaccine. Any kind of violence or even threats of violence out of
frustration that we all share, is NOT the cure for anything.
Finally, supporting demonstrations and rallies and
armed protest as discussed here (by anyone and especially the president)
is 100% unsound and quite frankly dangerous, and it goes way beyond the bounds
of free speech – but boy do some pedal it as free speech and a right – in
normal times, yes, but not in these times.
Trump is flat-out wrong to even come
close to supporting any of that, but he did in this format publicly, too.
Thanks for stopping by.
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