Research, editing : Gan Yung Chyan, KUCINTA SETIA
Experts
warn that despite the first antiviral pills for covid promising protection for
those at risk of severe disease, Pfizer's or Merck's new medications may
not be safe for everyone, NBC News reported over the weekend.
News (3)
FDA does not recommend Paxlovid for patients with severe kidney
or liver disease
One
of the two drugs in Pfizer's Paxlovid antiviral cocktail could cause severe or
life-threatening interactions with commonly used medications, including statins,
blood thinners and some antidepressants, and the FDA does not recommend
Paxlovid for those with severe kidney or liver disease.
In
addition, due to concerns about the potential side effects of Merck's
molnupiravir, the FDA has restricted its use to adults and only in cases in
which other treatments are inaccessible or are not ''clinically appropriate.''
News (4)
Ritonavir component of Paxlovid may boost toxicity of
co-administered drugs
The
main concern is that when Paxlovid is paired with other medications that are
also metabolized by the CYP3A enzyme, the ritonavir component may boost the
co-administered drugs to toxic levels.
The
drugs that pose interaction risks are widely prescribed to those at the
greatest risk from covid because of other health conditions, according to Peter
Anderson, a professor of pharmaceutical sciences at the University of Colorado
Anschutz Medical Campus.
He
told NBC News that ''some of these potential interactions are not trivial, and
some pairings have to be avoided altogether,'' adding that ''some are probably
easily managed, but some we're going to have to be very careful about.''
The
FDA has published in its Paxlovid fact
sheet a list of medications that may interact harmfully with
ritonavir, including those that should not be paired with the covid antivirals.
News (5)
Pharmacists emphasize the drug interactions are manageable
Pharmacists
emphasize, however, that many of the drug interactions are manageable and
should not preclude most people from taking Paxlovid.
Emily
Zadvorny, a clinical pharmacist who is the executive director of the Colorado
Pharmacists Society, told NBC News that pharmacists ''are an excellent source
of information and advice about interactions between medications and also
supplements and herbal products,'' adding that ''they will help determine if a
significant interaction exists and devise solutions to mitigate the interaction
if possible.''
Experts are also hopeful that since the Paxlovid treatment is brief, 30 pills, taken as three pills twice a day for five days, the risk of adverse interactions with other medications is low.
News (6)
Outpatient treatments for covid reviewed
According to American osteopathic physician, best-selling author Joseph Mercola, the Frontline COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance (FLCCC) is among the first to publish covid treatment guidance. Treatment protocols include recommendation of steroids, anticoagulants, vitamin C, vitamin D, ivermectin, among others although the ivermectin protocol has met medical resistance.
News (7)
Steroids effective for reducing inflammation caused by covid
Steroids are an effective tool for reducing inflammation in general but they appear particularly important for advanced covid. Joseph Mercola had a close friend who contracted a very serious case of covid and kept worsening despite taking everything he suggested.
He knew Dr. Peter McCullough, so he texted him and was told to add prednisone and aspirin to his current regimen. As soon as he took the prednisone, he started getting better.
Importantly, the evidence shows that when used early, during mild infection, corticosteroids do more harm than good. But once a patient is entering into moderate illness, for example starting to see lung dysfunction or the need for oxygen, steroids are critical and are clearly lifesaving.
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Steroids must be used at the right time
Steroids must be used at the correct time. One of the reasons for this is because SARS-CoV-2 infection triggers a very complex cascade of inflammation. More specifically, severe covid is a macrophage activation syndrome. It’s the hyperinflammatory macrophages (a subtype of macrophages) that end up causing organ damage. So, either use medicines that either suppress their activity or repolarize them into hypoinflammatory macrophages.
The key is to use the steroids at the correct time — not too early and not too late. There are no hard and fast rules for that, as each patient is different, but as a rule of thumb, do NOT use it until or unless the patient is seeing a significant worsening of symptoms to where breathing is getting more difficult.
News (9)
Wise use of prednisone or methylprednisolone in covid treatment
On Day 7, 8 or 9, outpatient treatment of covid includes prednisone if the patient is still going downhill. It is important to NOT use it early in the course of the illness as it will actually worsen the infection by increasing viral replication.
The suggested dosage is 1 milligram of prednisone or methylprednisolone per kilogram of bodyweight. When using methylprednisolone (Medrol), in part because lung tissue concentrations are higher than prednisone, there are two daily doses. The use of dexamethasone is not recommended as it does not work as well for lung disease. Yet, most doctors in the U.S. use dexamethasone if they are using steroids at all.
The dose may be doubled or tripled depending on the severity and trajectory of the infection.
News (10)
Anticoagulants for blood clots only
While early covid cases often involved severe blood clotting, that feature of the infection appears to have receded. Even when clotting occurs, it is typically much milder than what we saw in the beginning. Still, anticoagulants can be an important component in these cases.
An anticoagulant called Lovenox may be applied. Patients are also given full-dose aspirin, unless there is a contraindication. Fibrolytic enzymes like lumbrokinase and nattokinase, which help degrade fibrin, may be a better alternative to aspirin. N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) is another potential candidate.
News (11)
The role of Vitamin C in emergency covid treatment
Another important component is intravenous vitamin C. While some university hospitals may carry IV vitamin C, most do not but might be able to get it from another local hospital. Importantly, the vitamin C needs to be administered within the first six hours of admittance to the ICU in order to work, and it may be similar for covid.
This is especially true for the relatively low doses recommended by the Math+ protocol of 1,500 mg or 1.5 grams. Many outpatient natural medicine physicians will use 25 grams to 50 grams of IV vitamin C, but most hospitals will not allow this high a dose, even though it is likely that higher doses will work if a patient missed the early treatment window (the first six hours). So pragmatic logistics is why the Math+ protocol uses relatively low doses.
One suggestion would be to call the hospital where the person will be admitted for covid treatment and ask if they have it. If not, ask the person's doctor to order it for him or her and bring it to the hospital, if the person or his or her family member are admitted for covid or sepsis. The key, of course, is having a doctor who is willing to use it. Some are not.
News (12)
Ivermectin the potential antiviral drug for severe covid treatment, Dominican Republic shows
Ivermectin has been demonstrated for 10 years in the laboratory on a number of viruses including Zika, Dengue, West Nile and HIV and their clinical study results are overwhelming.
One of the first case series about ivermectin's application on covid treatment, from the Dominican Republic, was published in June 2020. The Dominican Republic hospital treated 3,300 consecutive emergency room covid patients with ivermectin. Of those, only 16 went on to be hospitalized and one died. That is pretty profound, considering these were severely ill individuals.
Importantly though, there is a dose-response relationship to the viral load. The Delta variant (Covi72) has been shown to produce viral loads that are 250 times higher than Alpha (Covi51), and as Covi72 became predominant, breakthrough cases in the prevention protocol started happening.
Higher doses of ivermectin are also used for treatment of Delta. In more advanced stages, the drug is useful thanks to its anti-inflammatory properties. Contrary to many other drugs, ivermectin is beneficial in all stages of the infection.
Ivermectin is one of the covid treatment protocols developed by the FLCCC. However, many countries in Asia have shunned the use of ivermectin to treat severe covid.
News (13)
Vitamin D optimization is crucial
Other components of the FLCCC’s prevention and treatment protocols include products that have either antiviral or anti-inflammatory properties, or a combination thereof, such as melatonin, quercetin and zinc, and anticoagulants such as aspirin.
Reporter : Mike Landry, Western Journal / Image : Video Screenshot
A CNN reporter thinks there is something wrong with President Biden.
The president is confused as he speaks; the administration is messing things up.
There is something wrong.
Last week, in a sit-down with ABC’s David Muir, several times Biden confused COVID home test kits with the newly-approved Pfizer pill designed to reduce the seriousness of COVID symptoms and need for hospitalization.
Muir and Biden discussed the new Pfizer pill. Then, after Muir asked about shortages of the test kits, Biden responded: “I’ve ordered half a billion of the pills — 500 million pills, excuse me, 500 million test kits …”
A misstatement. No problem. We all do it. But 10 seconds later, Biden does it again: “The answer is yeah, I wish I had thought about ordering a half a billion pills two months ago …”
Pills instead of test kits, and this time he did not correct himself.
Biden’s performance got the attention of Jeff Zeleny at CNN.
“Repeatedly throughout this interview with David Muir, which was recorded this afternoon [December 22], President Biden seems confused … and was confusing the half billion tests that they’ve ordered with the half billion pills,” Zeleny said.
“Of course, pills were in the news today,” Zeleny continued, “With the Pfizer approval of the anti-viral [drug], so he corrected himself, but that was one thing that struck out to me.”
It was not just Biden’s on-camera performance that concerned Zeleny but the failure on the part of the administration to make sure there were enough test kits.
“This administration — and the president leading the charge here — really not accepting any responsibility at all for this lack of testing.” Zeleny, as did Muir in the original interview, referred to images of individuals lined up trying to get COVID tests. Zeleny was critical of the administration’s inability to get people tested and questioned Biden’s claim that tests would be available in early January.
For his part, Muir, in his interview with Biden, asked pointed questions. Assuming there was no collusion between ABC and the president in providing questions in advance, Biden, except for the confusion regarding pills and tests, was, in spite of some stumbling, at least mediocre in his ability to respond.
For whatever reason, there was one obvious edit 9 minutes and 45 seconds into the session where the recording stopped, there was a voiceover by Muir, then recording started again.
Concern about Biden’s capabilities center on his age.
The president would be a few weeks short of 82 years old on election day in November 2024.
Although telling Muir he would run for reelection if his health permitted, if an organization like CNN is becoming critical of how Biden is able to handle himself at age 79, it underscores what others have seen for a long time.
Is Biden serious about continuing as president until he is 86?
To indicate the extent of how the president has aged, consider the video below here.
Whether functioning as a passionate moralist or as a theatrical demagogue, Senator Joe Biden had a fire in his belly in a 1986 confrontation with George Schultz, secretary of state in the Reagan administration.
Reagan, by the way, was, at 77, younger when he left the presidency than Joe Biden is in his first year. Claims regarding Reagan’s mental acuity at the end of his term remain subject to partisan debate.
News (15)
List of Xi'an's mid-high-risk epidemic areas (in Chinese)
Source : People's Daily
From 27 December 2021, Xi'an has 1 high-risk epidemic area and 150 mid-risk epidemic areas.
As of 12 am of 28 December 2021, there were 182 confirmed local cases (180 in Shaanxi, including 175 in Xi'an, 3 in Xianyang, and 2 in Yan'an; 1 in Shaoxing, Zhejiang and 1 in Kunming, Yunnan). There were 3 new cases of local asymptomatic infections (2 cases in Yunnan, both in Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture; 1 case in Tongren, Guizhou).
News (17)
Xi'an closed the city, the epidemic is difficult to control, the military takes over the quarantine ward overnight
Reporter :Luo Tingting / Editor: Zhu Xinrui / https://www.ntdtv.com/gb/2021/12/28/a103304750.html
After Xi'an was locked down, the epidemic was still difficult to control. On 27 December 2021, Xi'an officially notified 175 new confirmed cases, the highest number of notifications in a single day. That night, Xi’an Air Force Military Medical University dispatched a 150-person medical team to urgently take over the isolation ward of the designated hospital.
Since Xi'an closed the city on the 23rd, the number of confirmed cases has risen sharply. Since December 9, the total number of confirmed cases in Xi'an in this round of the epidemic has reached 810. Since the CCP has been covering up the epidemic, the outside world believes that the actual number of infections may far exceed the official figure.
According to officials, Xi'an has experienced multiple outbreaks and the prevention and control situation is complex and severe. According to a report by Xi'an "China Business Daily", at 8 pm on 27 December, Xi'an Air Force Military Medical University organized a 150-member medical team to urgently settle in Xi'an designated treatment hospital to take over the isolation ward. The medical team members come from Xijing Hospital, Tangdu Hospital, Stomatological Hospital, 986 Hospital and other affiliated units. Among them are experts who have been stationed in the "red zone" of Wuhan Huoshenshan Hospital.
After the outbreak of the epidemic in Wuhan in 2020, the Air Force Military Medical University sent medical teams twice to support Wuhan, and now it is again late at night to support Xi'an.
On the 27th, Xi’an’s prevention and control measures were upgraded again. The fifth round of nucleic acid testing for all employees was launched at noon on the same day. At the same time, the policy of one person out of every two days to purchase daily necessities in every household was stopped, and all people were required to “stay at home” and must wait for all. Only after the nucleic acid sampling showed negative results can you go out. Violation of the regulations may be subject to administrative detention for up to 10 days and a fine of 500 RMB.
The people complained about this. Some netizens said, “I believed that the government didn’t need to stock up food, but now I can’t buy food online, and the community doesn’t give it away. Finally, the results of the nucleic acid within 48 hours came out, and I suddenly stopped letting me go out. I am really convinced."
Some netizens ridiculed, “I remembered what the oil pipeline brick said: China will store up materials for 3 months before closing down the city. What the government said went flat. I was still skeptical at the time, it will be fulfilled so soon.”
Some netizens disclosed, "The blind stream of public opinion sent by Xi'an does not allow ordinary people in Xi'an to say that they have no food."
Lin Xiaoxu, a former virology researcher at the U.S. Army Research Institute, told NTDTV: “If a big city like Xi’an becomes the second Wuhan, and another city with a population of tens of millions of people is closed, it will undoubtedly be a blow to this zero-clearing policy. ······They may go more extreme in the future."
A video posted on the Internet showed that a woman was anxiously about to leave the community, but the security guard refused to open the door. The woman was angry and destroyed the formula sign at the gate. Then several police officers came and forced the woman away. Netizens said that this woman must go to the detention centre. (Click to watch the video)
News (18) to (13) / Reporter : Li Jinfeng / Editor: Li Quan / https://www.ntdtv.com/gb/2021/12/28/a103304878.html
News (18)
China's epidemic has spread to 16 provinces, all staff tested in Jinghong, Yunnan
The covid epidemic is spreading again in CCP China. The latest news of cases refer to Nanjing, Jiangyin, Jiangsu, Anning and Jinghong, Yunnan, and Tongren, Guizhou. As of now, 16 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) in mainland China have experienced epidemics.
News (19)
Covid cases in Nanjing and Jiangyin, Jiangsu
According to a comprehensive CCP media report, on 28 December 2021, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, notified that in the early morning of the 28th, a nucleic acid mixed pipe test was found to be positive in the nucleic acid test in Jianye District, Nanjing, involving 4 workers at the Nanjing Pilot Station of the Yangtze River Pilot Center including personnel and a truck driver. After review, one of the pilots was positive.
The staff of the pilot station live daily at the Atour Hotel, Tianhe Plaza, Yuhuatai District, Nanjing.
On the same day, Jiangyin City notified that in the morning of the 28th, during the routine nucleic acid test in Jiangyin City, it was found that the test results of one sample (ten persons per tube) were abnormal. After re-examination of 10 sampling subjects, the results showed that at 12:25 noon that day, 1 person was positive and the remaining 9 were negative.
The person who was positive for the review is a staff member of the Yangtze River Pilot Center, who lives in a special-class management hotel on a daily basis. However, the notification did not specify the name of the specific hotel, etc.
News (20)
Nucleic acid test for all employees in Jinghong, Yunnan
On the 28th, Yunnan Province notified that between 0:00 and 24:00 on the 27th, 1 new local confirmed case and 2 new local asymptomatic infections were added in Yunnan.
The confirmed case was in Anning City, a student of Kunming Metallurgical College, and was infected with the Delta variant (Covi72) of the CCP virus.
As of 10 am on the 28th, 21,298 people in the relevant area have undergone the second round of nucleic acid testing and screening; 849 close contacts and second close contacts of confirmed cases.
The asymptomatic infection is in Jinghong, Xishuangbanna Prefecture, Yunnan Province, and is an active nucleic acid tester and his close contacts. One person in Jinghong was also diagnosed on the 26th.
On the 27th, Jinghong City announced that from midnight on that day, traffic control will be implemented on the passages in and out of Jinghong City's urban area, and people in the urban area will not go out unless necessary. Except for emergency support vehicles such as firefighting and emergency services, other vehicles will be temporarily suspended. On the same day, all residents in Jinghong City carried out a nucleic acid test for all employees.
"Jimu News" reported on the 28th that Mr. Liu (surnamed Hua), a taxi driver in Jinghong, said that all taxis had been notified at 8 am on the 28th that all taxis were suspended; on the evening of the 26th, they received a notification for nucleic acid testing. At present, he is not going out to rest at home according to the notice.
News (21)
A positive case in Tongren, Guizhou Province
In addition to the aforementioned two provinces, Guizhou Province also broke new cases.
Tongren of Guizhou Province notified that on the 27th, Tongren Maternal and Child Health Hospital reported that a person returning from Yunnan Province to the city had a positive nucleic acid test.
The patient is a 46-year-old woman who currently lives in Jintan Peninsula Haoyuan, Hexi Street, Bijiang District, Tongren City. The patient went to Jinghong City, Yunnan Province on December 21, and took a direct flight to Tongren Phoenix Airport on the 25th. After that, he went out many times and went to many places such as supermarkets, music stores, clinics, training institutions, etc. The nucleic acid was positive on the morning of the 27th.
As of now, the epidemic in mainland China has spread to 16 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities). In addition to the aforementioned cities of Nanjing and Jiangyin in Jiangsu Province, Anning and Jinghong in Yunnan Province, and Tongren in Guizhou Province, Kunming in Yunnan Province also has an epidemic, and Bijie in Guizhou Province also has an epidemic.
In addition, Xi’an, Yan’an and Xianyang in Shaanxi Province, Dongguan, Guangzhou, Shenzhen in Guangdong Province, Chengdu in Sichuan Province, Zhoukou in Henan Province, Beijing, Yuncheng in Shanxi, Changsha in Hunan Province, Tianjin, Anhui have reported covid cases. There were epidemics in Suzhou, Heilongjiang Province, Qiqihar, Heilongjiang, Dongxing of Guangxi, Manzhouli, Zhalai Nuoer District, Hulunbuir of Inner Mongolia, Ningbo, Shaoxing and Hangzhou of Zhejiang Province.
Among them, the epidemic in Xi'an is the most serious. Xi'an has been closed since 23 December 2021, but from 12 pm on 27 December, Xi'an has suspended the two-day one-person shopping policy, requiring all residents to complete nucleic acid sampling and show negative results before continuing to implement the original regulations. The epidemic prevention policy aroused public outrage.
News (22)
Applied quantum physics MIT develops new technology for virus detection
Reporter : Gao Wensen / Editor : Ye Ziwei / https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/21/12/27/n13461315.htm / Image : Schematic diagram of covi research. (Shutterstock)
Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) invented a covi (novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, CCP virus) detection technology based on quantum physics. The new technology can get the detection result in less than one second, and the percentage of underreporting is less than 1%.
In contrast, the commonly used Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test takes several hours to get the result, and the false negative, that is, the proportion of false negatives may exceed 25%.
The study, published in Nano Letters on 16 December 2021, said that this new technology not only has a fast detection speed and a low false negative rate, but it is also more sensitive to viruses, even if the virus content is very small, it can also be detected.
According to the study, they took advantage of a characteristic called the NV centre flaw in the diamond. The most common impurity in diamonds is nitrogen atoms, and sometimes they also form the structure of the nitrogen vacancy center, that is, the position that should be a pair of adjacent carbon atoms is occupied by a nitrogen atom and a vacancy. Due to the quantum effect that occurs in the diamond crystal, this flaw structure is very sensitive to subtle changes in the diamond, so it has been widely used in various devices that require high sensitivity in recent years.
The researchers used only nano-sized diamond dust, wrapped in a layer of specially treated gadolinium element material (Ga, Gadolinium). After this material is processed, it will be magnetically bound to diamond dust only when the target virus to be detected is present. Once binding occurs, this will affect the diamond's magnetic field, resulting in changes in the fluorescent properties of the diamond. This change is easily detected by laser optical sensing equipment.
The researchers said that the material costs used in this technology are very low: Diamond dust is smaller than a grain of dust; the process of processing gadolinium element materials uses common processes and materials in the chemical industry; and the laser used to read the results. The sensor is also very cheap, and the cost is similar to that of an ordinary green laser pointer. Moreover, the manufactured equipment can be easily scaled up, and several samples can be tested at a time.
This research demonstrates its feasibility theoretically based on mathematical calculations, and the next step is to design a prototype of the equipment.
Paola Cappellaro, one of the main researchers and professor of nuclear science and engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said that another advantage of this technology is that it is easy to adjust and detect any emerging virus, as long as the compound attached to the diamond nanosensor is adjusted to make it work on the specific virus.
News (23) to (24) / Reporter : Zeyu Ye / Editor : Chen Wenqi / https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/21/12/28/n13463369.htm
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