Azithromycin in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19 (RECOVERY): a randomized, controlled, open-label, platform trial

“In patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19, azithromycin did not improve survival or other prespecified clinical outcomes. Azithromycin use in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19 should be restricted to patients in whom there is a clear antimicrobial indication.” (J. Harris: So, Z PAC doesn’t treat Covid.)

COVID-19 testing has become a “cash cow” for freestanding ERs in Texas, experts say. And it’s getting out of control.

Transmission of COVID-19 in 282 clusters in Catalonia, Spain: a cohort study

(A Spanish study that showed that a high viral load in an infected person caused the most spread and disease severity and onset was quicker, which is one explanation for why some individuals are so much sicker than other family members sick at the same time. The study showed infectivity occurred 5-7 days after exposure, but exposure to contacts with lower viral counts might take 12-14 days to produce infection. Most of what this study shows is about what you would expect, except  that the presence of cough was not too important nor was AGE. Toggle the article and read the summary if you are interested. Spain has much better tracking and tracing ability than does the USA.)

If You Get Covid-19, Here Are the Current Treatments Available

(J. Harris: This is a  readable article that is pretty close to being reliable. It points out that not everyone agrees with all of it; things are moving fast and some of the more reliable scientific studies take more time. Those studies are being done, however. )

Hopkins Suggestions:

1. GOOD NEWS: Vaccines are Curbing COVID: Data from Israel Show Drop in Infections (Nature) Good news from Israel. Researchers are seeing signs that COVID-19 vaccines are helping to curb infections and hospitalizations among older people, almost 6 weeks after shots were rolled out in that group. The country is the first to release data showing vaccines working in such a large group of people, following news two weeks ago that shots seemed to be reducing infections in vaccinated individuals. Close to 90% of people aged 60 and older in the country have received their first dose of Pfizer’s 2-dose vaccine so far. Now, data collected by Israel’s Ministry of Health show that there was a 41% drop in confirmed COVID-19 infections in that age group, and a 31% drop in hospitalizations from mid-January to early February.

2. Intranasal Influenza Vaccine Spurs Strong Immune Response in Phase 1 Study An experimental single-dose, intranasal influenza vaccine was safe and produced a durable immune response when tested in a Phase 1 study published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation. The investigational vaccine, called Ad4-H5-VTN, is a recombinant, replicating adenovirus vaccine designed to spur antibodies to hemagglutinin, a protein found on the surface of influenza viruses that attaches to human cells. The participants who received the vaccine intranasally or via tonsillar swab showed significantly higher H5-specific neutralizing antibody levels compared to the group receiving the vaccine capsule orally. (NIH, 2/3/2021)

(J. Harris: Next we need to find a similar vaccine for Covd, and we probably will, with time.)

NO JOKES; LOOK AT THE VIDEO INSTEAD. 

WATCH THIS 2 MIN. VIDEO THAT WILL MAKE YOUR DAY. Click here to see video

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CORONAVIRUS INFO PROVIDED BY DR. JIM HARRIS – 02/08/2021

HELLO,

Most of the most recent area data is not available due to the weekend. In addition the net and my computers are uppidity lately. Sorry. 

Virus Variant First Found in Britain Now Spreading Rapidly in U.S.

8 most convincing messages

 to promote COVID-19 vaccine

“HERE’S WHAT THE PUBLIC WANTS TO HEAR”

GOOD BRIEF SUMMARY OF ALL THE VACCINES

The Mysterious Link Between COVID-19 and Sleep

(J. Harris: Very readable The Atlantic [it will always be “Atlantic Monthly” to me]. Contains potentially useful  information about sleep, melatonin, health, and recovery.)

“….Although sleep cycles can be disturbed and damaged by the post-infectious inflammatory process, radiologists and neurologists aren’t seeing evidence that this is irreversible. And among the arsenal of ways to attempt to reverse it are basic measures such as sleep itself. Adequate sleep also plays a part in minimizing the likelihood of ever entering into this whole nasty, uncertain process…”

FROM HOPKINS:

1. Monoclonal Antibodies for COVID-19

“…Currently, 2 monoclonal antibody products are being used to treat COVID-19 through a US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Emergency Use Authorization. Although researchers are still learning which patients with COVID-19 are most likely to benefit from monoclonal antibody therapy, early data suggest greater benefit in high-risk patients, including those older than 65 years, with a suppressed immune system, or with certain medical conditions including obesity. …Monoclonal antibodies are intended for patients recently diagnosed as having COVID-19 who are not sick enough to be in the hospital but who have some risk factors for severe infection. Giving the infusion as early as possible in the course of infection is important, so patients should seek medical care and testing as soon as they develop symptoms….

ORIGINAL ARTICLE A Cluster-Randomized Trial of Hydroxychloroquine for Prevention of Covid-19

The analysis included 2314 healthy contacts of 672 index case patients with Covid-19 who were identified between March 17 and April 28, 2020. A total of 1116 contacts were randomly assigned to receive hydroxychloroquine and 1198 to receive usual care. Results were similar in the hydroxychloroquine and usual-care groups with respect to the incidence of PCR-confirmed, symptomatic Covid-19 (5.7% and 6.2%, respectively… In addition, hydroxychloroquine was not associated with a lower incidence of SARS-CoV-2 transmission than usual care (18.7% and 17.8%, respectively). The incidence of adverse events was higher in the hydroxychloroquine group than in the usual-care group … but no treatment-related serious adverse events were reported.

(J. Harris: For goodness sake, this is the last Hydroxychloroquine article that I will post. IT DOES NOT PREVENT OR TREAT COVID SUCCESSFULLY.)

Op-Med Will Ivermectin Cure COVID-19? By Joshua Jarryd Davis, MD February 2, 2021 Original article

 Based on my review, I think ivermectin is a promising therapeutic for COVID-19, but the current data on its use is not convincing enough to outweigh its risks. There is a signal of benefit, yes, and in the near future there may be a well-done study that shows benefit in some patients. (Actually, there are several ongoing trials studying exactly this.) However, the data supporting ivermectin’s use published on ivmmeta.com is not robust enough to inform a practice change or suggest the drug should be prescribed for COVID-19 patients. There is certainly not enough convincing evidence to argue that a well-done RCT is unethical. In fact, the data strongly suggests that an RCT should be done. I encourage physicians and patients to participate in a randomized trial, so that we can better understand ivermectin’s real potential.

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Ratio of an igloo’s circumference to its diameter: Eskimo Pi

   2000 pounds of Chinese soup: Won ton

   1 millionth of a mouthwash: 1 microscope

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