Mods: I understand if this is one thread too many. Nuke away! No hard feelings. It seems we have some level of understanding on how to control this virus's spread. I'm not interested in discussing those measures nor their impacts. Instead, it may be interesting to have a dedicated place to talk about progress in the fight against this virus that isn't buried in hyper-political mega-threads. Hopefully this can be as apolitical as possible. To get back to anything that resembles normalcy, I think most will agree that we'll need, at minimum, a widely available treatment / cure. Then, hopefully, a vaccine can follow within a year. Some promising treatments include: Remdesivir - an Ebola drug Actemra & Kevzara - Arthritis drugs Plasma from the infected Chloroquine / Hydroxychloroquine - Malaria drug Israel's Placenta cell treatment It seems the race for a vaccine is anyone's to take. There's a lot of wisdom and knowledge on this board. I'd love to read it. Let's keep this updated with anything promising and hope this is an optimistic thread.
good idea good read here on different techniques and policies that make a big difference. apparently there are a slew of reasons to say no to a procedure and they all go back to exposing the medical community to the virus. Others are saying we can perform these procedures safely and they significantly reduce mortality and/or demand for ventilators. patients were dying because their ventilator tube was clogging up. clearing it was against directives from the medical community How Doctors are Saving Coronavirus Patients with Innovative New Techniques t was the early days of the crisis in New York City back when NYU Langone Medical Center still had only a handful of COVID-19 patients. (The hospital declined Friday to give a precise current number, only saying "hundreds and hundreds.") The answer that came back from the doctors in attendance was not what Cerfolio expected to hear. We aren't allowed to, they told him. The procedure, which involved threading a smaller tube into the respirator conduit and down into the airways—and then pulling it out—could "aerosolize" the virus, dispersing it through the room and possibly infecting all the front-line health care workers around it. Which is why statements instructing against the procedure had been issued by a wide range of surgical and medical professional organizations. Cerfolio, a thoracic surgeon whose many titles at the sprawling New York City medical center included senior vice president, vice dean and chief of hospital operations, was one of the few NYU Langone medical personnel in a position to override the directive. He was also the past president of the Thoracic Surgeons association, one of the organizations that had come out in opposition to the technique. Cerfolio overrode the guidance. The patient lived. And Cerfolio and his colleagues at NYU Langone developed a new protocol for protective equipment and other precautions for doctors willing to do the procedure. They have since performed bronchoscopies on hundreds of COVID-19 patients. Luis Angel, one of Certfolio's colleagues, invented a new self-contained method for tracheostomies that can sometimes keep doctors from putting critically-ill patients on ventilators, which requires them to be put in a medically induced coma. The procedure, which requires incisions into the lower neck, is known to place health care providers at risk, but if safely performed allows doctors to use a bigger tube than is used for ventilation, one that is easier to clean. NYU posted a video demonstrating the procedure, and Cerfolio's phone lines lit up. "I've been called by the head of thoracic surgery at the main academic institution in Spain, I've talked to a guy in Italy and we're doing the exact opposite of what they have done there—even at Columbia the head of thoracic surgery over there called me and said, 'I heard you guys are doing traches, what the hell you doing?'" Certfolio says. "We've done 63 of these and not a single doctor or nurse has gotten sick—not one. Sixty-two of the patients are still alive. We know we can do it safely and we know we are helping patents.
with credit to duchen Israeli COVID-19 treatment shows 100% survival rate - preliminary data Six critically ill coronavirus patients in Israel who are considered high-risk for mortality have been treated with Pluristem’s placenta-based cell-therapy product and survived, according to preliminary data provided by the Haifa-based company. The patients were treated at three different Israeli medical centers for one week under the country’s compassionate use program and were suffering from acute respiratory failure and inflammatory complications associated with COVID-19. Four of the patients also demonstrated failure of other organ systems, including cardiovascular and kidney failure. Not only have all the patients survived, according to Pluristem, but four of them showed improvement in respiratory parameters and three of them are in the advanced stages of weaning from ventilators. Moreover, two of the patients with preexisting medical conditions are showing clinical recovery in addition to the respiratory improvement. “We are pleased with this initial outcome of the compassionate use program and committed to harnessing PLX cells for the benefit of patients and healthcare systems,” said Pluristem CEO and president Yaky Yanay. “Pluristem is dedicated to using its competitive advantages in large-scale manufacturing to potentially deliver PLX cells to a large number of patients in significant need.”
Israeli scientists: Coronavirus vaccine to be tested on humans by June 1. Vaccine is a variation on something being worked on already for chicken bronchitis Scientists believe they were lucky
Interesting: I understand that the pharma regulations require a 21day sterilization period or something like that - which would obvs slow things down. Three weeks in this world is an eternity.
The two existing drugs that I have heard and read the most about as far as being successful on mitigation some or all of this virus are Remdesivir and Hydroxychloriquine. If I were to get COVID-19 I would demand Hydroxychloroquine from my doctor/s.
Good point. Would we require foreign made vaccines to meet our own regulations? Seems like we would, like we do for cars, but I'm admittedly ignorant on these things
Head Lice Drug Kills Novel Coronavirus Within 48 Hours, New Study Finds A head lice drug has successfully killed the novel coronavirus within 48 hours in a laboratory setting, as per researchers in Australia. The study, conducted by researchers from the Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory, Royal Melbourne Hospital in Australia, has found the head lice drug Ivermectin could potentially be used—after further research and human trails—as a possible treatment for the COVID-19 disease. This veterinary drug was first introduced to the world back in the 1970s, and it has since been used to treat head lice, scabies, and several other infections caused by parasites. To test how it performs against the novel coronavirus, the researchers infected some cells with the COVID-19-causing SARS-CoV-2 virus, and then exposed them to Ivermectin. Subsequently, they found that just a single dose of Ivermectin had successfully killed the virus in a petri dish. There was a significant reduction in the virus in just 24 hours, and complete annihilation in less than 48 hours, which is indicative of the drug’s potent antiviral activity. If the human trials do turn out to be successful, it will significantly speed-up the development for a COVID-19 treatment, due to the fact that Ivermectin has already been established as a drug safe for human consumption. Head Lice Drug Kills Novel Coronavirus Within 48 Hours, New Study Finds | The Weather Channel
One thing they will do if they have a promising vaccine that is in Phase III trials is to start producing it so when the trial is over it is ready to go.
Add this one: Leronlimab - artificial antibody that works against the 2nd phase of COVID-19 (also an HIV drug) UCLA Dr Otto Yang saved a 55-year old Orange County patient with this within @one week.