Coronavirus (COVID-19) Research

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updated global advice (Aug 3)

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Global COVID-19 advice for people with MS
https://www.msif.org/news/2020/02/10/th ... d-to-know/

" ... National lockdown measures in place in many parts of the world might be relaxed in the coming weeks and months. Until our understanding of the coronavirus improves, people with MS in these higher risk groups and their caregivers should continue to follow the advice above to reduce their risk of contracting COVID-19."

i consider myself lucky to have the capacity to continue my day to day routine as if i am in phase 1 lockdown, or next thing to it. there are only a handful of active cases in my community, and i'm happy to help keep it that way!
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Re: Coronavirus (COVID-19): What You Need To Know

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NHE wrote: Sat Aug 01, 2020 1:21 am One Man's COVID-19 Death Raises The Worst Fears Of Many People With Disabilities
July 31, 2020 3:29 PM ET

https://www.npr.org/2020/07/31/89688226 ... sabilities

What Melissa Hickson says happened to her husband — and what the hospital says — are in conflict.

But this much is for sure: Michael Hickson, a 46-year old quadriplegic who'd contracted COVID-19, died at St. David's South Austin Medical Center in Austin, Texas, on June 11 after the hospital ended treatment for him and moved him from the intensive care unit to hospice care.

But if you're a nerdily cute woman in her 20's, then you might just get a lung transplant.

First COVID-19 double-lung transplant patient goes home
https://www.livescience.com/double-lung ... -home.html

The first COVID-19 patient in the U.S. to receive a double-lung transplant was discharged from the hospital this week, according to news reports.

After the coronavirus inflicted irreversible damage to her lungs, 28-year-old Mayra Ramirez underwent the transplant on June 5, Live Science previously reported. To qualify for the procedure, she first had to test negative for the virus, as transplant patients must take immune-suppressing drugs following the surgery. The drugs prevent the body from rejecting the new organ, but hobble the immune system's ability to fight off an active infection.

"Once Mayra's body cleared the virus, it became obvious that the lung damage wasn't going to heal, and we needed to list her for a lung transplant," Dr. Beth Malsin, a pulmonary and critical care specialist at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, said in a statement. Ramirez received her new lungs two days later.

Ramirez woke up following the 10-hour operation with "all these tubes" coming out of her — "I just couldn't recognize my own body," she told The New York Times. Prior to the surgery, Ramirez spent six weeks in the intensive care unit (ICU) on a ventilator and an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) machine, which pumps oxygenated blood through the body when the heart and lungs cannot do so alone.

"I don't remember anything during my six weeks in the COVID ICU. When I finally woke up, it was the middle of June and I had no idea why I was in a hospital bed," Ramirez said in the statement from Northwestern. When she finally awoke, her nurses asked if she knew the date and Ramirez guessed that it was early May, according to the Times. She was able to return home on July 29.


[Two months in the hospital and a lung transplant. That's going to be some bill.]
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Re: Coronavirus (COVID-19): What You Need To Know

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I, too, watched the panic surrounding COVID-19 and noticed that no one mentions Amantadine as a cure for this virus. Coincidentally, I found a few interesting articles that talk about it.
Patients with MS often take Amantadine to fight fatigue. I personally have been using it for a long time, almost 20 years.
It is true that I have not had any problems with the COVID-19 virus so far, so I wonder if anyone else has had similar experiences with Amantadine.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/a ... 772030654X
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/a ... via%3Dihub
https://www.researchgate.net/publicatio ... t_COVID-19
https://multiple-sclerosis-research.org ... /#comments
https://www.msard-journal.com/article/S ... X/fulltext
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Debunking COVID-19 myths

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Debunking COVID-19 (coronavirus) myths
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-con ... t-20485720

my beloved immune system-boosting essential nutrients, maligned!
ok well not really. either way, i accept that i can't use my supplements as an alternative to good distancing precautions and personal hygiene :)
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Re: Coronavirus (COVID-19): What You Need To Know

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COVID-19 is, in the end, an endothelial disease
European Heart Journal, Volume 41, Issue 32, 21 August 2020, Pages 3038–3044

The vascular endothelium provides the crucial interface between the blood compartment and tissues, and displays a series of remarkable properties that normally maintain homeostasis. This tightly regulated palette of functions includes control of haemostasis, fibrinolysis, vasomotion, inflammation, oxidative stress, vascular permeability, and structure. While these functions participate in the moment-to-moment regulation of the circulation and coordinate many host defence mechanisms, they can also contribute to disease when their usually homeostatic and defensive functions over-reach and turn against the host. SARS-CoV-2, the aetiological agent of COVID-19, causes the current pandemic. It produces protean manifestations ranging from head to toe, wreaking seemingly indiscriminate havoc on multiple organ systems including the lungs, heart, brain, kidney, and vasculature. This essay explores the hypothesis that COVID-19, particularly in the later complicated stages, represents an endothelial disease. Cytokines, protein pro-inflammatory mediators, serve as key danger signals that shift endothelial functions from the homeostatic into the defensive mode. The endgame of COVID-19 usually involves a cytokine storm, a phlogistic phenomenon fed by well-understood positive feedback loops that govern cytokine production and overwhelm counter-regulatory mechanisms. The concept of COVID-19 as an endothelial disease provides a unifying pathophysiological picture of this raging infection, and also provides a framework for a rational treatment strategy at a time when we possess an indeed modest evidence base to guide our therapeutic attempts to confront this novel pandemic.

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Re: Coronavirus (COVID-19): What You Need To Know

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A woman in the Astrazeneca covid19 vaccine trial developed symptoms that resembled transverse myelitis.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/spin ... -rc2txfw6g
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Re: Coronavirus (COVID-19): What You Need To Know

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https://swprs.org/on-the-treatment-of-covid-19/

Swiss Policy Research

On the treatment of Covid-19
Published: July 2, 2020; Updated: September 4, 2020
Languages: DE, EN; Share on: Twitter / Facebook
Immunological and serological studies show that most people develop no symptoms or only mild symptoms when infected with the new
oronavirus, while some people may experience a more pronounced or critical course of the disease.
Based on the available scientific evidence and current clinical experience, the SPR Collaboration recommends that physicians and authorities consider the following Covid-19 treatment protocol for the early treatment of people at high risk or high exposure (see references below).
Note: Patients are asked to consult a doctor.
Treatment protocol
Prophylaxis
1. Zinc (50mg to 100mg per day)
2. Quercetin (500mg to 1000mg per day)
3. Bromhexine (25mg to 50mg per day)
4. Vitamins C (1000mg) and D (2000 u/d)
Early treatment
1. Zinc (75mg to 150mg per day)
2. Quercetin (500mg to 1500mg per day)
3. Bromhexine (50mg to 75mg per day)
4. Vitamins C (1000mg) and D (4000 u/d)
Ancillary (prescription only)
1. Hydroxychloroquine (400mg per day)
2. High-dose vitamin D (1x 100,000 IU)
3. Azithromycin (up to 500mg per day)
4. Heparin (usual dosage)
Note: Contraindications for HCQ (e.g. favism or heart disease) must be observed.
Addendum: Other prescription drugs with first reported successes in the early medical treatment of Covid-19 are ivermectin (read more) and favipiravir (read more).
Treatment successes
Zinc/HCQ/AZ: US physicians reported an 84% decrease in hospitalization rates, a 50% decrease in mortality rates among already hospitalized patients (if treated early), and an improvement in the condition of patients within 8 to 12 hours. Italian doctors reported a decrease in deaths of 66%.
US physicians also reported a 45% reduction in mortality of hospitalized patients by adding zinc to HCQ/AZ. Another US study reported a rapid resolution of Covid symptoms, such as shortness of breath, based on early outpatient treatment with high-dose zinc.
Bromhexine: Iranian doctors reported in a study with 78 patients a decrease in intensive care treatments of 82%, a decrease in intubations of 89%, and a decrease in deaths of 100%. Chinese doctors reported a 50% reduction in intubations. Bromhexine is a mucolytic cough medication.
Vitamin D: In a Spanish randomized controlled trial (RCT), high-dose vitamine D (100,000 IU) reduced the risk of requiring intensive care by 96%. A large Israeli study found a strong link between vitamin D deficiency and covid-19 severity.
For more results, see the scientific references below.
Mechanisms of action
Zinc inhibits RNA polymerase activity of coronaviruses and thus blocks virus replication. Hydroxychloroquine and quercetin support the cellular absorption of zinc and have additional anti-viral properties. Bromhexine inhibits the expression of the cellular TMPRSS2 protease and thus the entry of the virus into the cell. Azithromycin prevents bacterial superinfections. Heparin prevents infection-related thromboses and embolisms in patients at risk. (See scientific references below).
See also: Illustration of the mechanisms of action of HCQ, quercetin and bromhexine
Additional notes
The early treatment of patients as soon as the first typical symptoms appear and even without a PCR test is essential to prevent progression of the disease. Zinc, HCQ, quercetin and bromhexin may also be used prophylactically for people at high risk or high exposure (e.g. for health care workers).
In contrast, isolating infected high-risk patients at home and without early treatment until they develop serious respiratory problems, as often happened during lockdowns, may be detrimental.
The alleged or actual negative results with hydroxychloroquine in some studies were based on delayed use (intensive care patients), excessive doses (up to 2400mg per day), manipulated data sets (the Surgisphere scandal), or ignored contraindications (e.g., favism or heart disease).
Early treatment based on the above protocol is intended to avoid hospitalization. If hospitalization nevertheless becomes necessary, experienced ICU doctors recommend avoiding invasive ventilation (intubation) whenever possible and using oxygen therapy (HFNC) instead.
It is conceivable that the above treatment protocol, which is simple, safe and inexpensive, could render more complex medications, vaccinations, and other measures largely obsolete.
Background
The efficacy of HCQ against SARS coronaviruses was established in 2005 in the wake of the SARS-1 epidemic. The efficacy of zinc in blocking RNA replication of coronaviruses was discovered in 2010 by world-leading SARS virologist Ralph Baric. The efficacy of HCQ in supporting the cellular uptake of zinc was discovered in 2014 as part of cancer research. The efficacy of the flavonoid quercetin in supporting the cellular uptake of zinc was also discovered in 2014. The efficacy of bromhexine in blocking cell entry of coronaviruses was established in 2017.
Stages of covid disease (EVMS)
References
General
• EVMS Critical Care Covid-19 Management Protocol (Paul Marik, MD, June 2020)
Zinc
1. Study: Effect of Zinc Salts on Respiratory Syncytial Virus Replication (Suara & Crowe, AAC, 2004)
2. Study: Zinc Inhibits Coronavirus and Arterivirus RNA Polymerase Activity In Vitro and Zinc Ionophores Block the Replication of These Viruses in Cell Culture (Velthuis et al, PLOS Path, 2010)
3. Study: Zinc for the common cold (Cochrane Systematic Review, 2013)
4. Study: Hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin plus zinc vs hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin alone: outcomes in hospitalized COVID-19 patients (Carlucci et al., MedRxiv, May 2020)
5. Study: Treatment of SARS-CoV-2 with high dose oral zinc salts: A report on four patients (Eric Finzi, International Journal of Infectious Diseases, June 2020)
6. Review: Does zinc supplementation enhance the clinical efficacy of chloroquine/ hydroxychloroquine to win today’s battle against COVID-19? (Derwand & Scholz, MH, 2020)
7. Review: Zinc supplementation to improve treatment outcomes among children diagnosed with respiratory infections (WHO, Technical Report, 2011)
8. Article: Can Zinc Lozenges Help with Coronavirus Infections? (McGill University, March 2020)
Quercetin
1. Study: Small molecules blocking the entry of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus into host cells (Ling Yi et al., Journal of Virology, 2004)
2. Study: Zinc Ionophore Activity of Quercetin and Epigallocatechin-gallate: From Hepa 1-6 Cells to a Liposome Model (Dabbagh et al., JAFC, 2014)
3. Study: Quercetin as an Antiviral Agent Inhibits Influenza A Virus Entry (Wu et al, Viruses, 2016)
4. Study: Quercetin and Vitamin C: An Experimental, Synergistic Therapy for the Prevention and Treatment of SARS-CoV-2 Related Disease (Biancatelli et al, Front. in Immun., June 2020)
5. Report: EVMS Critical Care Covid-19 Management Protocol (Paul Marik, MD, June 2020)
Bromhexine
1. Study: TMPRSS2: A potential target for treatment of influenza virus and coronavirus infections (Wen Shen et al., Biochimie Journal, 2017)
2. Letter: Repurposing the mucolytic cough suppressant and TMPRSS2 protease inhibitor bromhexine for the prevention and management of SARS-CoV-2 infection (Maggio and Corsini, Pharmacological Research, April 2020)
3. Study: Potential new treatment strategies for COVID-19: is there a role for bromhexine as add-on therapy? (Depfenhart et al., Internal and Emergency Medicine, May 2020)
4. Study: Bromhexine Hydrochloride: Potential Approach to Prevent or Treat Early Stage COVID-19 (Stepanov and Lierz, Journal of Infectious Diseases and Epidemiology, June 2020)
5. Study: TMPRSS2 inhibitors, Bromhexine, Aprotinin, Camostat and Nafamostat as potential treatments for COVID-19 (Arsalan Azimi, Drug Target Review, June 2020)
6. Trial: Effect of bromhexine on clinical outcomes and mortality in COVID-19 patients: A randomized clinical trial (Ansarin et al., BioImpacts, July 2020): “There was a significant reduction in ICU admissions (2 out of 39 vs. 11 out of 39), intubation (1 out of 39 vs. 9 out of 39) and death (0 vs. 5) in the bromhexine treated group compared to the standard group.”
Hydroxychloroquine
1. Studies: Overview of more than 50 international HCQ studies (C19Study.com)
2. Study: Chloroquine is a potent inhibitor of SARS coronavirus infection and spread (Vincent et al., Virology Journal, 2005)
3. Study: Chloroquine Is a Zinc Ionophore (Xue et al, PLOS One, 2014)
4. Study: Physicians work out treatment guidelines for coronavirus (Korean Biomedical Review, February 2020)

5. Study: Expert consensus on chloroquine phosphate for the treatment of novel coronavirus pneumonia (Guangdong Health Commission, February 2020)
6. Study: Clinical Efficacy of Chloroquine derivatives in COVID-19 Infection: Comparative meta-analysis between the Big data and the real world (Million et al, NMNI, June 2020)
7. Study: Treatment with Hydroxychloroquine, Azithromycin, and Combination in Patients Hospitalized with COVID-19 (Arshad et al, Int. Journal of Infect. Diseases, July 2020)
8. Study: COVID-19 Outpatients – Early Risk-Stratified Treatment with Zinc Plus Low Dose Hydroxychloroquine and Azithromycin (Scholz et al., Preprints, July 2020)
9. Study: Effectiveness of HCQ in COVID-19 disease (Monforte et al., IJID, July 2020)
10. Protocol: Advisory on the use of HCQ as prophylaxis for SARS-CoV-2 infection (Indian Council of Medical Research, March 2020)
11. Review: White Paper on Hydroxychloroquine (Dr. Simone Gold, AFD, July 2020)
12. Article: The Key to Defeating COVID-19 Already Exists. We Need to Start Using It. (Professor Harvey A. Risch, Newsweek, July 2020)
Heparin
1. Commentary: The versatile heparin in COVID‐19 (Thachil, JTH, April 2020)
2. Study: Anticoagulant Treatment Is Associated With Decreased Mortality in Severe Coronavirus Disease 2019 Patients With Coagulopathy (Tang et al, JTH, May 2020)
3. Study: Autopsy Findings and Venous Thromboembolism in Patients With COVID-19 (Wichmann et al., Annals of Internal Medicine, May 2020)
4. Article: Anticoagulation Guidance Emerging for Severe COVID-19 (Medpage Today)
5. Article: Aspirin may prevent blood clots in COVID-19, study shows (Knowridge Science)
See also
• Facts about Covid-19
• On the effectiveness of face masks
• Studies on the lethality of Covid-19
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Re: Coronavirus (COVID-19): What You Need To Know

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NHE wrote: Thu Sep 10, 2020 3:58 pm A woman in the Astrazeneca covid19 vaccine trial developed symptoms that resembled transverse myelitis.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/spin ... -rc2txfw6g
My friend Kathleen wrote she successfully (meaning no adverse effects) received the Russian Covid 19 vaccine at the Santa Rosa Keiser hospital (which isn't publicized for political reasons). If you want the vaccine, contact your hospital. I'm not pro vaccine, but the Russian may be as good as another, maybe better since they have been working on the Cvirus for 20 years? My feeling is that if Fauci and company blocked HCQ therapy in order for Big Pharma to profit from a vaccine, better to get the Russian who hopefully will underprice Big Pharma. Also, consider this. Russian war industry is better and more efficient than the American because their motive is Defense, whereas the American motive is money. Maybe that holds for medical research as well.

Regards, Vesta
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Re: Coronavirus (COVID-19): What You Need To Know

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Eli Lilly monoclonal antibody shows positive trial results against Sars-Cov-2.
https://investor.lilly.com/news-release ... ntibody-ly

INDIANAPOLIS, Sept. 16, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY) today announced proof of concept data from an interim analysis of the BLAZE-1 clinical trial, showing a reduced rate of hospitalization for patients treated with LY-CoV555. The randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase 2 study evaluated LY-CoV555, a SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibody, for the treatment of symptomatic COVID-19 in the outpatient setting. The trial enrolled mild-to-moderate recently diagnosed COVID-19 patients across four groups (placebo, 700 mg, 2800 mg, and 7000 mg).

The prespecified primary endpoint, change from baseline in viral load at day 11, was met at the 2800 mg dose level, but not the others. Most patients, including those receiving placebo, demonstrated near complete viral clearance by day 11. Additional analyses of viral data demonstrated that LY-CoV555 improved viral clearance at an earlier time point (day 3) and reduced the proportion of patients with persistently high viral load at later time points.

These biomarker data correlated with LY-CoV555's positive impact on the prespecified endpoint of COVID-19-related hospitalization or ER visit. This endpoint occurred in 1.7 percent (5/302) of LY-CoV555 patients, pooled across dose groups, as compared to 6 percent (9/150) of placebo patients, which corresponds to a 72 percent risk reduction in this limited population. Most study hospitalizations occurred in patients with underlying risk factors (age or BMI), suggesting a more pronounced treatment effect for patients in these higher-risk groups. Ongoing studies will seek to confirm this finding. Across all treatment groups (including placebo), no patients progressed to mechanical ventilation or died. Exploratory analyses indicated a more rapid improvement in symptoms for patients treated with LY-CoV555 versus placebo, supporting the hospitalization effect.

LY-CoV555 was well-tolerated, with no drug-related serious adverse events reported. Treatment emergent adverse events were similar across all dose groups and comparable to placebo. Viral RNA sequencing revealed putative LY-CoV555-resistance variants in placebo and all treatment arms. The rate of resistance variants was numerically higher in treated patients (8 percent) versus placebo (6 percent).

"These interim data from the BLAZE-1 trial suggest that LY-CoV555, an antibody specifically directed against SARS-CoV-2, has a direct antiviral effect and may reduce COVID-related hospitalizations," said Daniel Skovronsky, M.D., Ph.D., Lilly's chief scientific officer and president of Lilly Research Laboratories. "The results reinforce our conviction that neutralizing antibodies can help in the fight against COVID-19."

Lilly intends to quickly publish the results of this interim analysis in a peer-reviewed journal and discuss appropriate next steps with global regulators. The BLAZE-1 clinical trial remains ongoing, testing LY-CoV555 in combination with a second Lilly antibody, LY-CoV016, which binds a different epitope in the SARS-CoV-2 spike region. The trial is currently enrolling a larger, confirmatory cohort of higher risk patients, testing the ability of the antibody combination to reduce the number of patients with persistently high viral load and reduce COVID-related hospitalizations.

"We are grateful to the patients, physicians, and staff that have participated in this trial," Skovronsky continued. "We look forward to continued data generation as this trial proceeds."

About BLAZE-1
BLAZE-1 (NCT04427501) is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase 2 study designed to assess the efficacy and safety of LY-CoV555 and LY-CoV016 for the treatment of symptomatic COVID-19 in the outpatient setting. Across all treatment arms, the trial will enroll an estimated 800 participants.

The monotherapy arms of the trial enrolled mild-to-moderate recently diagnosed COVID-19 patients across four groups (placebo, LY-CoV555 700 mg, LY-CoV555 2800 mg, and LY-CoV555 7000 mg). To be eligible, patients were required to have mild or moderate symptoms of COVID-19 as well as a positive SARS-CoV-2 test based on a sample collected no more than 3 days prior to drug infusion.

The primary outcome measure for the BLAZE-1 monotherapy arms was change from baseline to Day 11 in SARS-CoV-2 viral load. Additional endpoints include the percentage of participants who experience COVID-related hospitalization, ER visit or death from baseline through Day 29, as well as safety.

The study is ongoing with additional treatment arms.

About LY-CoV555
LY-CoV555 is a potent, neutralizing IgG1 monoclonal antibody (mAb) directed against the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2. It is designed to block viral attachment and entry into human cells, thus neutralizing the virus, potentially preventing and treating COVID-19. LY-CoV555 emerged from the collaboration between Lilly and AbCellera to create antibody therapies for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19. Lilly scientists rapidly developed the antibody in less than three months after it was discovered by AbCellera and tested by the scientists at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Vaccine Research Center. It was identified from a blood sample taken from one of the first U.S. patients who recovered from COVID-19.

Lilly has successfully completed enrollment and primary safety assessments of LY-CoV555 in a Phase 1 study of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 (NCT04411628) and long-term follow-up is ongoing. A Phase 2 study in people recently diagnosed with COVID-19 in the ambulatory setting (NCT04427501) is ongoing. Lilly recently initiated a Phase 3 study for the prevention of COVID-19 in residents and staff at long-term care facilities (NCT04497987). In addition, LY-CoV555 is being tested in the National Institutes of Health-led ACTIV-2 and ACTIV-3 studies of ambulatory and hospitalized COVID-19 patients.
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Re: Coronavirus (COVID-19): What You Need To Know

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Inexpensive Steroids Can Save Lives Of Seriously Ill COVID-19 Patients
September 2, 2020 5:21 PM ET

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-sho ... 9-patients

Three new studies strongly support using inexpensive and widely available drugs to treat people who are seriously ill with COVID-19. The drugs are steroids, and the research published Wednesday confirms they are proving to be the most effective treatment found to date.

Initially, the use of these drugs in COVID-19 was controversial. Some doctors have long used steroids to treat conditions related to COVID-19, namely sepsis and acute respiratory distress syndrome.

Steroids help tamp down the immune system's potentially deadly overreaction to an infection. But some doctors worried that steroids could also prevent the body from fighting off the coronavirus effectively.

"Giving steroids to COVID-19 could have been quite scary," says Dr. Derek Angus, a critical care specialist at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

In June, a major study from the U.K. found that the steroid dexamethasone was a big help. It reduced deaths significantly among the most serious cases of COVID-19 — notably people who needed ventilators or supplemental oxygen.

That advance was great news, but those findings created a conundrum for Angus and other researchers who were running their own studies of steroids in COVID-19 patients. It no longer felt appropriate to be giving some people steroids and others a placebo.

"Essentially overnight, because these findings were so striking, there was this sense among clinicians participating in other clinical trials [that] ... we have to stop our trials."

So those studies all ended prematurely. Researchers from three research groups have now published the findings they had gathered in the journal JAMA. One group is from France, one is from Brazil, and the third is an international team that includes the University of Pittsburgh's Angus.

Taken together, the publication of these studies "represents an important step forward in the treatment of patients with COVID-19," Drs. Hallie Prescott and Todd Rice wrote in a JAMA editorial. The results not only provide further support for the use of dexamethasone, they also back the use of another widely used steroid, hydrocortisone.

"I think it's good news to have a strong, clear signal on what is a widely available, inexpensive class of therapies," Angus says. He also contrasts these studies with a lot of other research on COVID-19. Many other studies, such as those involving much-hyped anti-malaria drugs, did not randomize their participants or include a comparison group. Such measures — randomized controlled trials — are the gold standard for medical research.

"It is reassuring that we can get randomized trials executed successfully and rapidly in the face of a pandemic," Angus says, "and it definitely puts us on a surer footing."

Based on these new results and related analysis, the World Health Organization on Wednesday updated its guidelines for steroids. It now recommends them for severely or critically ill COVID-19 patients, such as those on a ventilator, but not for patients with milder disease.
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Re: Coronavirus (COVID-19): What You Need To Know

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2020 Aug 10
Universidad del Desarrollo-Clínica Alemana, Santiago, Chile
COVID-19 in a multiple sclerosis (MS) patient treated with alemtuzumab: Insight to the immune response after COVID
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32835901/

Abstract

Background: The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus type 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a novel disease that has spread abruptly over the world, allowing the development of countermeasures an urgent global priority. It has been speculated that elder people and patient with comorbidities may be at risk of developing complication. On the other hand, it has been seen that immunosuppressed patients could develop a mild presentation of the disease. Based on this hypothesis, several immunosuppressant agents are currently being tested as potential treatment for coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19).

Methods: report a patient treated with alemtuzumab (Humanized monoclonal antibody against the lymphocyte and monocyte surface antigen CD52, which depletes B and T cells) (Thompson et al., 2018) for recurrent remittent multiple sclerosis (RRMS) who developed mild COVID-19.

Results: Despite complete B and T cell depletion, patient symptoms abated few days with no need for hospitalization due to COVID-19 and no clinical evidence of disease activation regarding her MS.

Discussion: This report shows that MS patients with mild depletion of B and T cells can mount an antiviral response against COVID-19 and produce IgG.
https://www.eboro.cz
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Re: Coronavirus (COVID-19): What You Need To Know

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I'm not sure of the most appropriate location for this post but perhaps, a moderator can relocate it where it ought to be if not here. Thank you! My hope is to make those interested aware of the important proposal and support it, if possible. Thank you so much for checking it out! My wife is on Ocrelizumab and this study may help inform our decision on the value, if any, of a covid-19 vaccine for people using Ocrelizumab. Other MS DMTs will be reported on, also. IMO, this is a very important study for those with MS using any DMT.


Some terrific MS researchers in London I have followed for many years have proposed the following..."Two months ago we floated the concept of doing a UK-wide seroprevalence study in UK residents with MS to see how many had seroconverted to become anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody positive and to see if there are differences in seroconversion rates between people on different DMTs. The motivation was based on a prediction that people with MS on ocrelizumab would have lower titres of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody positive and to see if there are differences in seroconversion rates between people on different DMTs."

https://multiple-sclerosis-research.org ... ndraising/
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Re: Coronavirus (COVID-19): What You Need To Know

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2020 Sep 25
Multiple Sclerosis Research Center, Neuroscience Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Vitamin D sufficiency, a serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D at least 30 ng/mL reduced risk for adverse clinical outcomes in patients with COVID-19 infection
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32976513/


Abstract

Background: To investigate the association between serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels and its effect on adverse clinical outcomes, and parameters of immune function and mortality due to a SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Study design: The hospital data of 235 patients infected with COVID-19 were analyzed.

Results: Based on CDC criteria, among our study patients, 74% had severe COVID-19 infection and 32.8% were vitamin D sufficient. After adjusting for confounding factors, there was a significant association between vitamin D sufficiency and reduction in clinical severity, inpatient mortality serum levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) and an increase in lymphocyte percentage. Only 9.7% of patients older than 40 years who were vitamin D sufficient succumbed to the infection compared to 20% who had a circulating level of 25(OH)D< 30 ng/ml. The significant reduction in serum CRP, an inflammatory marker, along with increased lymphocytes percentage suggest that vitamin D sufficiency also may help modulate the immune response possibly by reducing risk for cytokine storm in response to this viral infection.

Conclusion: Therefore, it is recommended that improving vitamin D status in the general population and in particular hospitalized patients has a potential benefit in reducing the severity of morbidities and mortality associated with acquiring COVID-19.
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Petr75
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Re: Coronavirus (COVID-19): What You Need To Know

Post by Petr75 »

2020 Sep 24
Industrial Chemistry "Toso Montanari", University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
Potential role of particulate matter in the spreading of COVID-19 in Northern Italy: first observational study based on initial epidemic diffusion
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32973066/

Abstract

Objectives: A number of studies have shown that the airborne transmission route could spread some viruses over a distance of 2 meters from an infected person. An epidemic model based only on respiratory droplets and close contact could not fully explain the regional differences in the spread of COVID-19 in Italy. On March 16th 2020, we presented a position paper proposing a research hypothesis concerning the association between higher mortality rates due to COVID-19 observed in Northern Italy and average concentrations of PM10 exceeding a daily limit of 50 µg/m3.

Methods: To monitor the spreading of COVID-19 in Italy from February 24th to March 13th (the date of the Italian lockdown), official daily data for PM10 levels were collected from all Italian provinces between February 9th and February 29th, taking into account the maximum lag period (14 days) between the infection and diagnosis. In addition to the number of exceedances of the daily limit value of PM10, we also considered population data and daily travelling information for each province.

Results: Exceedance of the daily limit value of PM10 appears to be a significant predictor of infection in univariate analyses (p<0.001). Less polluted provinces had a median of 0.03 infections over 1000 residents, while the most polluted provinces showed a median of 0.26 cases. Thirty-nine out of 41 Northern Italian provinces resulted in the category with the highest PM10 levels, while 62 out of 66 Southern provinces presented low PM10 concentrations (p<0.001). In Milan, the average growth rate before the lockdown was significantly higher than in Rome (0.34 vs 0.27 per day, with a doubling time of 2.0 days vs 2.6, respectively), thus suggesting a basic reproductive number R0>6.0, comparable with the highest values estimated for China.

Conclusion: A significant association has been found between the geographical distribution of daily PM10 exceedances and the initial spreading of COVID-19 in the 110 Italian provinces.
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NHE
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Re: Coronavirus (COVID-19) Research

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Clots, Strokes And Rashes. Is COVID-19 A Disease Of The Blood Vessels?
November 5, 2020 12:02 PM ET

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-sho ... od-vessels

Whether it's strange rashes on the toes or blood clots in the brain, the widespread ravages of COVID-19 have increasingly led researchers to focus on how the novel coronavirus sabotages the body's blood vessels.

As scientists have come to know the disease better, they have homed in on the vascular system — the body's network of arteries, veins and capillaries, stretching more than 60,000 miles — to understand this wide-ranging disease and to find treatments that can stymie its most pernicious effects.

Some of the earliest insights into how COVID-19 can act like a vascular disease came from studying the aftermath of the most serious infections. Those reveal that the virus warps a critical piece of our vascular infrastructure: the single layer of cells lining the inside of every blood vessel, known as the endothelial cells or simply the endothelium.

Dr. William Li, a vascular biologist, compares this lining to a freshly resurfaced ice skating rink before a hockey game on which the players and pucks glide smoothly along.

"When the virus damages the inside of the blood vessel and shreds the lining, that's like the ice after a hockey game," says Li, a researcher and founder of the Angiogenesis Foundation. "You wind up with a situation that is really untenable for blood flow."

In a study published this summer, Li and an international team of researchers compared the lung tissues of people who died from COVID-19 with those who died from influenza.

They found stark differences: The lung tissues of COVID-19 patients had nine times as many tiny blood clots ("microthrombi'') compared with those of the influenza patients, and the coronavirus-infected lungs also exhibited "severe endothelial injury."

"The surprise was that this respiratory virus makes a beeline for the cells lining blood vessels, filling them up like a gumball machine and shredding the cell from the inside out," Li says. "We found blood vessels are blocked and blood clots are forming because of that lining damage."

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