ANTICOV Treatment Clinical Trial Crucial for Africa

http://www.ipsnews.net/2021/01…cal-trial-crucial-africa/

ANTICOV COVID-19 clinical trial, aimed at identifying treatments that prevent mild cases from progressing to severe forms of the disease, is crucial to Africa, researchers say. The trial will investigate home-based treatments to help prevent local health systems from being overwhelmed.

Borna Nyaoke-Anoke, Senior Clinical Project Manager & Medical Manager for DNDi, says that the studies target mild and moderate cases of COVID-19 and are important to Africa because lower-income countries remain under-represented in COVID-19 studies. The vast majority of COVID-19 clinical trials are being conducted in Europe, the US, and East Asia – testing treatments in contexts with considerable access to equipment and trained staff.

Forward thinking, maybe the United States could adopt this type approach rather than sending people home only to be treated only after symptoms advance. Truly an insane way to stop a pandemic!

Covid-19: NFP to go to court in bid to legalise Ivermectin

https://news.google.com/articl…=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US%3Aen

Durban – As opposition parties and organised labour continue to slam the government over its handling of the strategy to timeously secure and roll out an effective Covid-19 vaccine, the National Freedom Party has threatened to drag the government to court to advocate for its preferred drug.

The NFP is pushing the government to procure the Ivermectin drug and roll it out to citizens as treatment while a vaccine is being awaited.

Covid-19: Homeopathic medicine trials in Hyderabad, Machilip ..

https://timesofindia.indiatime…/articleshow/76843042.cms

HYDERABAD: Homeopathic medicine Arsenicum album has been distributed as a prophylactic (a preventive measure) and immunity booster in Covid-19 hotspots in Hyderabad and Machilipatnam as part of a clinical trial, which was launched in 11 states. Arsenicum is being given to high-risk contacts of Covid-19 patients in containment zones.

Dr Ch Ravinder, principal investigator, Regional Research Institute for (Homoeopathy), GGH Medical College Campus, Eluru, said, “In Machilipatam, we have given Arsenicum album to 1,000 persons as part of the study. After 21 days, all observations will be submitted. Apart from the study area, we have adopted ten villages and administered the medicine.”

Explained: What is Arsenicum album 30, touted to be effective against Covid-19?

https://indianexpress.com/arti…onavirus-vaccine-6439697/

Arsenicum album is made by heating arsenic with distilled water, a process repeated several times over three days. The health hazards of arsenic contamination in water are well known: long-term exposure to the metal can cause skin cancer, pulmonary and cardiovascular diseases. The homoeopathic drug has less than 1% arsenic, said Dr Amrish Vijayakar of Predictive Homoeopathy Clinic in Mumbai.

“Arsenicum album is considered to correct inflammation in body. It takes care of diarrhoea, cough and cold,” he said. A small bottle with one course costs Rs 20-30

Quote from Alan Fletcher

The trial did not have a single-dose arm to make an adequate
comparison.

I recently read 50% protection for a single Pfizer dose. One could extrapolate this from the duration of observation after second dose. But moderna vaccine is much better (after one shot)! So Pfitzer is out of business soon! That would be the reason for the UK single shot vaccination panic as people soon will learn about the problems. 95% protection after 2 months average could end up at 70-80% after one year multiplied by the reduced matching with the South Africa virus this could go down to 30-40%!

And please keep in mind that 95% just was for a few weeks in total and not for a one/two year measurment period as required for a definitiv value!

Nobody is really interested in the 3(2) months figure!

Let's wait for the 6 month follow up report of Pfitzer!

UK COVID-19 strain may infect kids more than other variants: scientists

https://nypost.com/2020/12/22/…more-than-other-variants/

The new mutation of COVID-19 found in the UK may be infecting more children than earlier strains, according to a government advisory group of scientists.

Until now, COVID-19 has mostly affected adults, but children appear just as susceptible to the new strain, which is also thought to be more contagious, members of the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group told reporters.

A review of Traditional Chinese herbal medicine in management of COVID-19

https://www.news-medical.net/n…nagement-of-COVID-19.aspx

Treatment of COVID-19 using TCM

TCM has been used as a first-line treatment for COVID-19 disease since the emergence of SARS-CoV-2. Qingfei Paidu decoction for example, has been used in a three-day course leading to an over 90 percent efficacy.

The team of researchers wrote, “The Chinese government announced that TCM is one of the recommended therapeutic options for the treatment of COVID-19 in the third version COVID-19 treatment guidelines, published on January 23, 2020.”

Association between early treatment with Qingfei Paidu decoction and favorable clinical outcomes in patients with COVID-19: A retrospective multicenter cohort study

https://www.sciencedirect.com/…cle/pii/S104366182031598X

Abstract

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic has been almost controlled in China under a series of policies, including “early diagnosis and early treatment”. This study aimed to explore the association between early treatment with Qingfei Paidu decoction (QFPDD) and favorable clinical outcomes. In this retrospective multicenter study, we included 782 patients (males, 56 %; median age 46) with confirmed COVID-19 from 54 hospitals in nine provinces of China, who were divided into four groups according to the treatment initiation time from the first date of onset of symptoms to the date of starting treatment with QFPDD. The primary outcome was time to recovery; days of viral shedding, duration of hospital stay, and course of the disease were also analyzed. Compared with treatment initiated after 3 weeks, early treatment with QFPDD after less than 1 week, 1-2 weeks, or 2-3 weeks had a higher likelihood of recovery, with adjusted hazard ratio (HR) (95 % confidence interval [CI]) of 3.81 (2.65–5.48), 2.63 (1.86-3.73), and 1.92 (1.34-2.75), respectively. The median course of the disease decreased from 34 days to 24 days, 21 days, and 18 days when treatment was administered early by a week (P < 0.0001). Treatment within a week was related to a decrease by 1-4 days in the median duration of hospital stay compared with late treatment (P<0.0001). In conclusion, early treatment with QFPDD may serve as an effective strategy in controlling the epidemic, as early treatment with QFPDD was associated with favorable outcomes, including faster recovery, shorter time to viral shedding, and a shorter duration of hospital stay. However, further multicenter, prospective studies with a larger sample size should be conducted to confirm the benefits of early treatment with QFPDD.

Association between Use of Qingfei Paidu Tang and Mortality in Hospitalized Patients with COVID-19: A national retrospective registry study

https://www.medrxiv.org/conten…101/2020.12.23.20248444v1

Results Of the 8939 patients included, 28.7% received QPT. The crude mortality was 1.2% (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.8% to 1.7%) among the patients receiving QPT and 4.8% (95% CI 4.3% to 5.3%) among those not receiving QPT. After adjustment for patient characteristics and concomitant treatments, QPT use was associated with a relative reduction of 50% in in-hospital mortality (hazard ratio, 0.50; 95% CI, 0.37 to 0.66 P <0.001). This association was consistent across subgroups by sex and age. Meanwhile, the incidence of acute liver injury (8.9% [95% CI, 7.8% to 10.1%]vs. 9.9% [95% CI, 9.2% to 10.7%]; odds ratio, 0.96 [95% CI, 0.81% to 1.14%], P =0.658) and acute kidney injury (1.6% [95% CI, 1.2% to 2.2%] vs. 3.0% [95% CI, 2.6% to 3.5%]; odds ratio, 0.85 [95% CI, 0.62 to 1.17], P =0.318) was comparable between patients receiving QPT and those not receiving QPT. The major study limitations included that the study was an observational study based on real-world data rather than a randomized control trial, and the quality of data could be affected by the accuracy and completeness of medical records.

I'll take this with a grain of salt but at least these countries are looking into early treatment

Nigerian Biotechnologist Touts Potent Herbal COVID-19 Treatment

https://www.voanews.com/covid-…herbal-covid-19-treatment

The artemisia plant also known as Sweet Wormwood contains artemisinin which has been used in Chinese traditional medicine for centuries in treating fevers.

Hope in the plant-based treatment led countries from Tanzania to Liberia to import the brew and to also develop their own.

Nigerian professor of  biotechnology at the University of Jos, Innocent Ogbonna, claims he has created more potent herbal treatment from the plant.

Quote from Fm1

UK COVID-19 strain may infect kids more than other variants: scientists

This has not yet been confirmed. What we here see is a strong increase among people age 18..34. The high risk live style folks now also enter the low V-D3 phase.

Also children run more and more out of V-D3 and their number in ICU is no longer 0 but still extremely low.

And also basic Darwinism explains that with a drain off of the large reservoir, only the virus that catches & survives the high target reservoir will survive longer... So we enter a dangerous phase where we just select and spread the fittest virus!

So may be - first sight - it's a good idea to stop school for a few weeks. But second thought children will have a much higher chance to get it now at home if they stay indoors!

Better would be that people going out would isolate at home...

Or best: Convince the killers to allow the use of Ivermectin.

At Least Fifth of Israeli Second-wave COVID Deaths Were Preventable, Study Finds

https://www.haaretz.com/amp/is…ths-study-finds-1.9424805

According to the researchers, excess mortality began to occur when the number of patients in serious and critical condition in Israel reached 500, and when the numbers of those hospitalized in coronavirus wards passed the 1,000 mark. The death rate rose significantly as the number of hospitalizations rose. The researchers also found that during the current third wave of the outbreak, too, signs have appeared of unnecessary and excess deaths.

Quote from Fm1

According to the researchers, excess mortality began to occur when the number of patients in serious and critical condition in Israel reached 500, and when the numbers of those hospitalized in coronavirus wards passed the 1,000 mark. The death rate rose significantly as the number of hospitalizations rose.

This shows the importance of nursing. Even with no specific cure available, doctors and nurses can greatly reduce mortality. That was true even during the U.S. Civil War.

Boris Johnson said that when he was in critical condition, a nurse was stationed with him at all hours, and the nurse was busy, often doing things to the patient and adjusting the dose delivered by the IV.

NHS England suspends one-to-one nursing for critically ill Covid patients

Quote from JedRothwell

a nurse was stationed with him at all hours,

At that time the n:p ratio was 1:1

now it is 'relaxed' to 1:2 ...

"

Nurses will be allowed to look after two critically ill Covid-19 patients at the same time after NHS bosses relaxed the rule requiring one-to-one treatment in intensive care as hospitals come under intense strain.

NHS England has decided to temporarily suspend the 1:1 rule as the number of people who are in hospital very sick with Covid has soared to 11,514, of whom 986 are on a ventilator.

https://www.theguardian.com/wo…ically-ill-covid-patients

WHO team blocked from entering China to study origins of coronavirus

https://news.google.com/articl…=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US%3Aen

Hong Kong(CNN)The World Health Organization said that China has blocked the arrival of a team investigating the origins of the coronavirus pandemic, in a rare rebuke from the UN agency.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said two scientists on the United Nations team had already left their home countries for Wuhan when they were told that Chinese officials had not approved the necessary permissions to enter the country.

The arrangements had been jointly agreed with China in advance.

brace yourself it ain't over!!!

South African Covid variant appears to ‘obviate’ antibody drugs, Dr. Scott Gottlieb says

https://news.google.com/articl…=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US%3Aen

Dr. Scott Gottlieb warned that vaccinating Americans against Covid is more critical than ever, especially as the new South Africa variant appears to inhibit antibody drugs.

"The South Africa variant is very concerning right now because it does appear that it may obviate some of our medical countermeasures, particularly the antibody drugs," said the former FDA chief in the Trump administration in an interview on CNBC's "The News with Shepard Smith" on Tuesday evening. "Right now that strain does appear to be prevalent in South America and Brazil, the two parts of the world, right now, that are in their summer, but also experiencing a very dense epidemic, and that's concerning.

Is this to hype the vaccine or a virus that understands battlefield tactics?

Large-scale global study to investigate links between covid-19 and cognitive decline

https://news.google.com/articl…=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US%3Aen

There is compelling evidence that covid-19 will have long-term effects on the brains and nervous systems of survivors as they age, and researchers on Tuesday announced a large international study to investigate the correlation between the coronavirus and cognitive decline, Alzheimer’s disease and other dementia in later life.

Finally - another vaccine available to fight the pandemic in EU!

https://www.breakingthenews.net/news/details/54226897

COVID-19 unmasked

Math model suggests optimal treatment strategies

https://news.harvard.edu/gazet…rus-treatment-strategies/

In patients younger than 35 who have healthy immune systems, a sustained recruitment of T cells occurs, accompanied by a reduction in viral load and inflammation and a decrease in nonspecific immune cells (so-called “innate” immunity). All of these processes lead to lower risk for blood clot formation and to restoring oxygen levels in lung tissues, and these patients tend to recover.

In contrast, people who have higher levels of inflammation at the time of infection — such as those with diabetes, obesity or high blood pressure — or whose immune systems are tilted toward more active innate immune responses but less effective adaptive immune responses tend to have poor outcomes.

What Will It Take To End The COVID-19 Pandemic?

https://www.npr.org/sections/g…ed-to-stop-pandemic-world

The [vaccine] innovators hold patent rights and trade secret rights over those technologies, and they're unwilling to share them broadly to other manufacturers. So we have artificially constricted supply," says Baker, who studies how laws affect access to medicines.

The patent rights come from agreements within the World Trade Organization. Members of the WTO, which includes 159 countries, have agreed to honor patents for new pharmaceutical products at least 20 years after they're developed.

"This agreement was the brainchild of the pharmaceutical industry back in the 1980s," Baker says. "It ended up being a monopoly-based agreement, which preserves the rights of the pharmaceutical industry instead of allowing competition

interesting, something we have actively tried to rid the world of and it now may be a treatment.

Efficacy of Nicotine in Preventing COVID-19 Infection in Caregivers (NICOVID-PREV)

https://www.npr.org/sections/g…ed-to-stop-pandemic-world

Summary:

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) epidemic represents a major therapeutic challenge. The highly contagious severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-COV-2) and the long duration of the disease have led to a massive influx of patients admitted in health services and intensive care units. These patients represent a significant infection risk to the medical staff. According to current knowledge, there are no treatments that prevent the spread of the infection, especially in exposed populations, or the disease progression to a severe form.

Daily active smokers are infrequent among outpatients or hospitalized patients with COVID-19. Several arguments suggest that nicotine is responsible for this protective effect via the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR).

Nicotine may inhibit the penetration and spread of the virus and have a prophylactic effect in COVID-19 infection, especially in healthcare workers who are at high risk of infection.

Results aren't expected till 8/21

Quote from Fm1

Dr. Scott Gottlieb warned that vaccinating Americans against Covid is more critical than ever, especially as the new South Africa variant appears to inhibit antibody drugs.

why??..

Disclosure: Scott Gottlieb is a CNBC contributor and is a member of the boards of Pfizer, genetic testing start-up Tempus and biotech company Illumina. Pfizer has a manufacturing agreement with Gilead for remdesivir. Gottlieb also serves as co-chair of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings′ and Royal Caribbean’s “Healthy Sail Panel.”

Good news. No reason to sell crap (death prolongation drug) remdesivir anymore.

Quote from Fm1

According to current knowledge, there are no treatments that prevent the spread of the infection, especially in exposed populations, or the disease progression to a severe form.

Obviously lying source as there are at least two working treatments and Ivermectin gives the same protection as a vaccine! See Belize & Egypt study.