Posted on 04/21/2020 8:37:58 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
More than 150,000 people have died with Covid-19, but there are still no drugs proven to help doctors treat the disease.
So how far are we from these life-saving medicines?
More than 150 different drugs are being researched around the world. Most are existing drugs that are being trialled against the virus.
There are three broad approaches being investigated:
Dr Bruce Aylward, from the World Health Organization, said remdesivir was the only drug that showed any signs of effectiveness, after he visited China.
The antiviral drug was originally designed to treat Ebola, but other options proved more effective.
It has since been shown to be effective at treating other deadly coronaviruses (Middle East respiratory syndrome and severe acute respiratory syndrome) in animal studies, leading to hopes it will also be effective against the Covid-19 coronavirus.
Leaked results from trials led by the University of Chicago also suggested the drug was effective.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...
There has been much talk, but little evidence, that a pair of HIV drugs - lopinavir and ritonavir - would be effective at treating coronavirus.
There has been some evidence they can work in the laboratory, but studies in people have been disappointing.
The combination did not improve recovery, reduce deaths or lower levels of the virus in patients with serious Covid-19.
However, as the trial was conducted with extremely sick patients (nearly a quarter died) it may have been too late in the infection for the drugs to work.
Malaria drugs are part of both the Solidarity and Recovery trials.
Chloroquine, and a related derivative, hydroxychloroquine, may have antiviral and immune-calming properties.
The drugs have been thrust into the spotlight as potential coronavirus therapies, largely due to claims made by President Trump, but there is still scant evidence on their effectiveness.
Hydroxychloroquine is also used as a treatment for rheumatoid arthritis, because it can help regulate the immune system.
Laboratory tests have shown it can inhibit the coronavirus, and there is some anecdotal evidence from doctors saying it appears to help patients.
However, the WHO says there is no definitive evidence of its effectiveness.
People who survive an infection should have antibodies in their blood that can attack the virus.
The idea is you take the blood plasma (the part which contains the antibodies) and give that to a sick patient as a therapy.
The US has already treated 500 patients with what's known as "convalescent plasma", and other countries are getting involved too.
It is too soon to know when we might have a drug that can treat the coronavirus.
However, we should start to get the results of trials in the next few months. This is much earlier than we will know if a vaccine (which protects against infection rather than treat it) is effective.
This is because doctors are testing drugs that have already been developed and are known to be safe enough to use, whereas vaccines researchers are starting from scratch.
Some completely new, experimental, coronavirus drugs are also being tested in the laboratory but are not yet ready for human tests .
The most obvious reason for wanting a treatment is it will save lives, but it could also allow some lockdown measures to be lifted.
Having an effective treatment would, in essence, make coronavirus a milder disease.
If it stopped people who were admitted to hospital from needing ventilation, then there would be less risk of intensive care units being overwhelmed, so controls on people's lives may not need to be as strict.
If you are infected by coronavirus, then for most people it would be mild and can be treated at home with bed-rest, paracetamol and plenty of fluids.
But some people need more intensive hospital treatment, which involves oxygen support such as ventilation.
WHO knows?
“More than 150,000 people have died with Covid-19, but there are still no drugs proven to help doctors treat the disease”.
Proven by whom?
I’ve read numerous accounts of different drugs that are very beneficial in treating the virus/disease.
I’m sick of all the BS.
It’s like they don’t even want to cure it.
Right. 116,000 died in the US from Asian Flu with half the population of 177 million. I lived through that and no shutdowns.
Certainly not with cost-controlled, existing medicines. It would have to be a high-cost, newly created medicine.
How much would treatment with remdesivir cost and what are the possible side effects? I heard liver damage.
There are plenty of trials and PROOF that this treatment is working, to treat China Flu.
The MSM/leftists/WHO are pulling out ALL of the stops to disparage this treatment. A coordinated effort...using ALL of the same buzz words and phrases.
They are desperate and pathetic.
I remember it, too.
I don’t think they want a cure. Too many politicians are involved.
You can see where they want to push this. It’s pretty clear. They want the heavy hand of government on the people for as long as possible. We have 22 million unemployed and it will probably go to 30+ million. They are creating a dependent class and a reason to push ‘universal basic income’. They want universal health care. They want to run up $10 trillion in new debt and bail out public pensions and finance all their pet projects and dreamy ideals. They have grounded 90% of airplanes, 70% of cars and trucks, shut down much of our industrial capacity. The cities and states will all come begging for federal bailout due to declining tax revenues; which we cannot afford because we’re not making enough money to pay taxes in the first place to afford borrowing and bailing out all these cities and states and funds.
They want to poopoo all over Hydroxychloroquine, which may (and seems to) help a lot of people especially if given earlier. And they want us to wait for a “vaccine” which you’d have to be insane to voluntarily inject something they just concocted. They will try to force it on us, with some sort of “app” or “paper” that proves you are cured or inoculated. Nonsensical.
They want the lockdown to continue, to keep Joe Biden from appearing in public and avoiding looking like the fool that he is. They want a virtual convention, to prevent political momentum with the GOP and prevent a 1968 type Democrat convention. They will want to limit debates. And of course, they will want us all to “vote by mail” because “it’s too dangerous to vote at the polls you might get infected”.
I am not trying to minimize the disease, it is serious. But all the consequences and the narrative pushed by the left and the MSM are so easy to read. They have an agenda and don’t care about the consequences. The ends justify the means.
“It’s like they don’t even want to cure it”.
I agree. And what happens when we’re hit again with a new virus? And another and another.
They certainly are on a jihad Jane, which only means the drugs work!!
Funny... No they don’t.
We didn’t have a vaccine for the Spanish flu, the Asian flu or the Hong Kong flu... We don’t need a vaccine for this one either. It will peter out like all the other previous flu viruses we have endured and we endured all the previous viruses without destroying our economy... Next virus outbreak... Shut down international travel and wear a mask... Keep everything open and practice social distancing as much as possible... Lessons learned.
Excellent post. Thank you.
This is only happening because Trump is POTUS, if we get hit with another virus and another this BS from the press won’t be happening!!
BINGO!
Ditto that
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