Coronavirus, Ebola and Infectious diseases, Food & Drugs, Studies, Recalls #7

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Message 2069818 - Posted: 3 Mar 2021, 15:27:19 UTC

Meanwhile, to check for further use cases, we have our ongoing research now moving onto wider groups, including:


Covid vaccine being tested in patients with low immunity
wrote:
People with low immunity due to health conditions, including cancer, are being recruited to a study to urgently find out if coronavirus vaccines will still offer them high protection...

... The coronavirus vaccines approved by UK regulators are safe and still recommended for people with weakened immune systems...

... "While Covid-19 vaccination might provide a lower level of protection in people who are immunosuppressed or immunocompromised compared with the rest of the population, it is still very important that you get vaccinated, as it will offer you a certain amount of protection...



Regardless, it should always be good to improve your health chances.

Stay safe folks!
Martin
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Message 2069820 - Posted: 3 Mar 2021, 15:32:37 UTC - in response to Message 2069817.  

LOL, saw that.
Now all we need is ABBA doing their version...
"Gimme, Gimme, Gimme, a jab after midnight"

Hey! Some vaccination centres are doing exactly that!!

We have a medical trust here running 24-hour vaccination runs for night shift workers and anyone happy to go for a nighttime jab so as to reduce the pressure on the daytime sessions.

Medical staff are doing some very long hours. I hope their dedication will be properly recognized...


Stay safe folks!
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Message 2069822 - Posted: 3 Mar 2021, 15:44:14 UTC - in response to Message 2069816.  

Not what I'd call 'Stars', but also two 'notables' who have had a Covid-19 vaccine are:

Donald Trump and Melania Trump.

Stay safe folks!
Martin


Here is hopefully a good boost to the world!


Covid-19: Dolly Parton marks vaccination with Jolene rewrite
wrote:
Country star Dolly Parton has been given a Covid-19 vaccine dose, after urging others to follow her example by reimagining one of her hit songs.

Parton, 75, sang an adapted version of Jolene before receiving the shot...

... Other celebrities who have had a Covid-19 vaccine include:

- Sir David Attenborough...
- Jane Fonda...
- Sir Ian McKellen...
- Arnold Schwarzenegger...
- Bette Midler...
- Sir Elton John...
- Sir Michael Caine...



Here's hoping their examples are widely followed for more people to go get vaccinated.

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Message 2069883 - Posted: 4 Mar 2021, 3:04:25 UTC

BBC - Budget 2021: Covid deaths set to cut state pension costs
The amount the government has to spend on state pensions will fall by £1.5bn by 2022, partly because of over-65s dying of Covid, forecasts suggest.
The government will also receive an extra £0.9bn from inheritance tax, partly due to Covid-related deaths.
The figures have been published by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) - the government's fiscal watchdog.
It said it had "revised up our assumption for excess deaths this year and next relative to November".
More than 144,000 deaths involving Covid-19 have occurred in the UK since the start of the pandemic, figures published by the UK's statistics agencies show.
The majority of coronavirus deaths have been among people aged over 65, many of whom will have been receiving the state pension.
...
"With virus-related deaths rising sharply again in recent months, we have revised up the number of excess pensioner-age deaths in 2020-21 from 90,000 in our November forecast to around 100,000 in this one," the OBR said in its Economic And Fiscal Outlook, which is published alongside the Budget.


That's 2/3rds of all UK covid deaths occurred in the over 65's.
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Message 2070019 - Posted: 5 Mar 2021, 16:19:53 UTC - in response to Message 2069734.  

Now for a dose of UK good and Isle of Man bad news:


Brazil variant: Search for mystery case narrows to 379 households
wrote:
The search for an individual infected with the Covid variant first found in Brazil has narrowed to 379 households in south-east England...

Here's hoping any spread has been isolated in time:

Covid-19: Mystery UK person with Brazil variant found
wrote:
A mystery person infected with the Covid variant of concern first found in Brazil has now been traced.

Last week, it was announced that six cases of the P.1 variant had been found in the UK - but one of the cases was still unknown.

It is understood public health officials have found the person and traced all of their contacts...



Stay safe folks!
Martin
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Message 2070046 - Posted: 5 Mar 2021, 20:26:38 UTC

Covid?
Naw, there's a much worse virus out there & it is a very old one.
Unfortunately, in today's climate, it is taking a hold on many. So much of a hold that no amount of vaccines can prevent it.
It is known the world over as
FYJIA
Stop whining
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Message 2070212 - Posted: 8 Mar 2021, 22:30:41 UTC



Shortly after my last post, I received a lengthy phone call.
It was devastating.

For those who think Covid is a hoax, please think again.
She passed away from Covid-pneumonia late Sat evening, a few weeks shy of her 31st. :-(

R.I.P. Zara
You will be missed.

A memory that many in Addenbrookes as well as myself will always cherish.
Being a non smoking site, I stood up to leave the ward & go for a cigarette.
When this voice quite loud said "granddad where are you going?"
When I walked back to tell her, everybody in the ward, including the nurses were smiling.
After telling her where, that same voice said "can I come?"
I just hope & pray that she can come to terms with the loss of her mother.
I certainly can't. :-(
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Message 2070225 - Posted: 9 Mar 2021, 1:16:52 UTC - in response to Message 2070212.  

My condolences on your loss.

Doing the books for a mortuary I know Covid is real. I can't begin to understand the level of denial. Is their IQ even a positive number?
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Message 2070234 - Posted: 9 Mar 2021, 3:23:30 UTC - in response to Message 2070212.  
Last modified: 9 Mar 2021, 3:23:46 UTC

Oh no oh dear,

very sad and very sorry to hear.


Best wishes to all of you,
Martin
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Message 2070235 - Posted: 9 Mar 2021, 3:44:07 UTC - in response to Message 2070225.  

Doing the books for a mortuary I know Covid is real. I can't begin to understand the level of denial. Is their IQ even a positive number?

I'm still wondering on that one.

I'm also still perfecting my Dr Who (Peter Capaldi) styled deadly evil stare against those that still refuse to wear any sort of mask.

After over a year now of no haircut, I'm sporting some scary hair that does give focus to my glare above my mask (stark white KN95, functionality over any concerns for appearance). It also lends quite a gruff sound to my voice.

As to whether my very public and very loud comments have had any positive effect?...

So far, some few have magically positively responded and magicked up a mask, or a scarf, or on one occasion hidden themselves inside their hoodie.

However, there are some that are outrageously brazen and superficially claim to be exempt or just stubbornly mindlessly will not wear a mask. They are quite a test of sensibilities!


Do we really have such a high proportion of sociopaths and the doggedly ignorant? This pandemic is continuing to be a sad occasion.

Unfortunately, the safest strategy is avoidance of such deadly idiots. Unfortunately further, there seem to be too many such idiots breezing around! Including for today, unbelievably with celebrations and fireworks for the easing of lockdown restrictions!!!... With such idiots, there is guaranteed to be a 4th deadly wave.


Stay safe folks!
Martin
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Message 2070242 - Posted: 9 Mar 2021, 9:30:04 UTC - in response to Message 2070212.  

So sorry to hear about your loss. There are glib words that can be said at such times, but in reality many of us feel your pain with you.
Take care yourself.
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Message 2070295 - Posted: 10 Mar 2021, 4:32:48 UTC - in response to Message 2070242.  

So sorry to hear about your loss. There are glib words that can be said at such times, but in reality many of us feel your pain with you.
Take care yourself.
+1 :-(
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Message 2070301 - Posted: 10 Mar 2021, 5:46:31 UTC

Since my last update the world has passed 118.1 million infections while deaths have now passed 2.62 million. :-(

The U.S. continues to lead the way passing 29.8 million cases while passing 540,000 deaths.

The death list has a new member to the 100,000 club with Italy becoming the 6th to join it while Canada passed the Belgium to claim 20th place as Czechia took 22nd from Chile and Hungary jumped over both the Netherlands and Ecuador to land in 26th.

In the case list Yemen jumped past New Zealand and Vietnam to claim 173rd spot, Australia looks to hold on to 112th for a few days longer before Jamaica charges past us while Botswana kicked Malawi put of 110th, Cameroon passed Zimbabwe, but Cyprus passed them both to take 105th spot, Luxembourg passed Afghanistan, but Cuba leapt over both of them into 100th as Singapore got shuffled from 95th down to 99th, Finland moved from 99th up to 96th, Uruguay went from 98th to 95th and Estonia nudged past Norway into 93rd.

Zambia and Montenegro both passed Uzbekistan to claim 90th and 91st respectively, Ghana took 87th from Kyrgyzstan as Latvia displaced China from 85th, Myanmar found itself back in 76th as Venezuela and Oman passed them while Paraguay and Ethiopia passed Qatar to take up positions 70th and 71st, Moldova passed Slovenia before Palestine passed them both to land in 63rd and Kuwait passed Lithuania to take up 61st spot.

Greece leapt over Lithuania and Costa Rica to take over 59th place, Tunisia took 54th from Azerbaijan while Lebanon removed Saudi Arabia from 41st, Jordan kicked Japan from 38th as Serbia pushed past Morocco into 34th, the Philippines replaced Pakistan in 30th and Romania knocked Portugal from 24th.

Well that's it for this update, but I'm not so sure that I'll wait another week before doing another update as this 1 was getting confusing.
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Message 2070329 - Posted: 10 Mar 2021, 15:16:01 UTC

Eli Lilly COVID-19 drug combo cuts risk of hospitalizations, deaths by 87%: study
"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster

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Message 2070331 - Posted: 10 Mar 2021, 15:19:51 UTC

New COVID-19 treatment ‘showing it gets rid of virus completely’ in trials.
"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster

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Message 2070336 - Posted: 10 Mar 2021, 15:57:18 UTC

Thanks for some good hopeful news.

The success of vaccination needs to be followed up with most everyone actually getting vaccinated.

And the new promising Molnupiravir drug has yet to begin any Human trials and so will be likely at least a year away from passing getting tested.


It is amazing what Science can do for us.

However, to thwart the ever present Coronavirus-SARS2 and COVID, we ain't partying yet! Patience and good sense are both still very much needed.


Stay safe folks!
Martin
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Message 2070342 - Posted: 10 Mar 2021, 16:28:05 UTC - in response to Message 2070341.  
Last modified: 10 Mar 2021, 16:33:34 UTC

We've seen any number of news "sources" using "op-eds" to generate a big headline. When one digs a little deeper than the op-ed one finds there is a degree of hope but a lot of work is still needed.
In this case the headline is about a drug (or drugs) that has shown, in a non-human trial a lot of prospect, sufficient to allow the drug to move onto limited human (safety?) trials, for which the test-subjects are being recruited, with the trial due to start in a few weeks. I really hope that these human trials do show more than just "promise" but "real effect", as just now the cupboard is pretty bare of effective treatments (and this applies to a vast number of other viral infections).

Edit to add - I'm always sceptical about "news" that makes big medical advance claims but fails to give reference to the prime source, or to the actual reports (although the latter can be very dry/heavy to read).
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Message 2070357 - Posted: 10 Mar 2021, 19:10:05 UTC
Last modified: 10 Mar 2021, 19:10:35 UTC

I am sick and tired of some information being discredited simply because Fox News happened to be the quoted source.
But for those who are too prejudiced to get past that and read the information presented.....

Merck has better luck with 2nd COVID-19 drug attempt as it sees a positive in early molnupiravir data.

Ridgeback Biotherapeutics and Merck Announce Preliminary Findings from a Phase 2a Trial of Investigational COVID-19 Therapeutic Molnupiravir.

Antiviral drug 'Molnupiravir' blocks Covid-19 virus within 24 hours: Study.

COVID-19: Antiviral prevents and treats infection in lab tests.
"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster

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Message 2070362 - Posted: 10 Mar 2021, 20:15:15 UTC

Thanks for the references - they are very useful.
When one reads the Merk/Ridgeback page one sees an optimistic picture, but not one of overwhelming victory as portrayed in the Fox op-ed.
First, the sample is very small when compared to the population. Only 202 people on the trial, and, if this trial follows the usual way of these trials, only half of them would have been given the drug under test.
It appears to be based on people self-administering the drug/placebo, probably at home - One can understand why this was done, it is a lot less expensive than doing it in a hospital or other clinical environment, but it is a weakness in the design.
It was a very short trial (again the norm for early day tests.
Now the numbers get even smaller - the actual "infected" participants appears to be about 72, of which 47 were in the "drug" part of the trial, and 25 on the placebo part. Very small numbers indeed. But there is a bit of disparity in the way the numbers are declared, as earlier it stated that these people not only presented with symptoms, but were tested positive. One has to ask what happened to the other 128 people?
There was a reduction in virus activity by what appears to be a very low level demonstrated by those on the drug part (all participants demonstrated this), against the (presumably similar reduction) shown by those on the placebo (6 of the 25, call it 25% of the people). OK, so it appears to be better than "doing nothing" - there are no details of what the placebo was, although this would (should) be known, as it is a vital part of the test design. This is far from the "100% claimed in the headline".
There were four, unspecified, "serious adverse events" - these appear to be brushed aside as no details are given. On the face of it that is a very high number given the small scale of the trial.
There is a real headline, that this drug may be of benefit in reducing the impact of Covid-19 if it is administered soon enough after infection. - which is very good news indeed. The article then continues to outline the future path, which is further (bigger) trials to prove the efficacy and safety of the drug in much more controlled environments - now let's hope these trials are positive.
As I said, the truth behind the story is much deeper than just a headline, and an eye needs to be kept on this trial to see it hopefully come to a positive conclusion.
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Message 2070364 - Posted: 10 Mar 2021, 20:25:15 UTC - in response to Message 2070357.  
Last modified: 10 Mar 2021, 20:31:14 UTC

I am sick and tired of some information being discredited simply because Fox News happened to be the quoted source.

That's because "Fox News" is blatantly a click-bait opinion piece. They even describe themselves as "entertainment". One of their lead anchors was saved from prosecution by the claim that noone in their right minds would ever believe what he says on-air and the judge legally agreed!

(Deliberately, sensationalist, 'fake' news?) Scary stuff!



But for those who are too prejudiced to get past that and read the information presented.....

Merck has better luck with 2nd COVID-19 drug attempt as it sees a positive in early molnupiravir data.

Ridgeback Biotherapeutics and Merck Announce Preliminary Findings from a Phase 2a Trial of Investigational COVID-19 Therapeutic Molnupiravir.

Antiviral drug 'Molnupiravir' blocks Covid-19 virus within 24 hours: Study.

COVID-19: Antiviral prevents and treats infection in lab tests.

Thanks for those. Much more useful.

Amongst the PR and turgid bits, there is the gem:

... Phase 2a study enrolled 202 non-hospitalized adults who had signs or symptoms of COVID-19 within 7 days and confirmed active SARS-CoV-2 infection. The primary efficacy objective was reduction in time to viral negativity... “The secondary objective findings in this study, of a quicker decrease in infectious virus among individuals with early COVID-19 treated with molnupiravir, are promising and if supported by additional studies, could have important public health implications, particularly as the SARS-CoV-2 virus continues to spread and evolve globally,”

OK, that's a small first careful test to check what effects are seen. The trial is still ongoing. Meanwhile, some hopeful first results give a good PR news-splash for one of the "secondary objectives" of the drug for helping people to recover more quickly.

So, those first results suggest some positive help, but there is no indication of a cure yet.

Noting that, however, there are the very good hopeful results in the animal tests and lab cell culture tests suggesting that for those tests, the drug is very effective to give a complete cure.

Special note with all that lot: The human body is a vastly broader test than singular cells in a petri-dish...


So, at this very early stage in testing, all looks good.

However, there is a very long way to go yet to be able to claim a cure.

Also note that as far as I'm aware, we have no post-infection 'cures' for any virus at present. So this drug will be very much a remarkable first.


Here's hoping that at the very least it will help. It may turn out to be a cure!

Stay safe folks!
Martin
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Message boards : Politics : Coronavirus, Ebola and Infectious diseases, Food & Drugs, Studies, Recalls #7


 
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