More on the hydroxychloroquine/chloroquine story
The New York Times reported that a small Brazilian study was stopped due to excessive cardiac arrhythmias and death in individuals given chloroquine and azithromycin. This underscores the need to study these medications thoroughly and be cautious about their use. The study also used azithromycin, which in certain circumstances can also cause arrhythmias. The combination is commonly used in individuals admitted to the hospital. So the hydroxychloroquine/chloroquine issue appears to be still unsettled.
Current state of antibody testing
Although there’s hope for the antibody tests to tell us who is immune and who is not, the accuracy of the available tests does not lead to recommending the antibody tests being currently advertised. We are also just beginning to understand the immune response to COVID-19, and there is still a lot of questions that are still unanswered, like does the immune response keep you from getting the infection again in 2-6 months?
Home testing kit available “soon”
The FDA has authorized a home test kit for COVID-19 offered by LabCorp. This “test” is essentially a nasal swab sent to you by LabCorp, which you use on yourself and mail back to LabCorp. Ironically those of us doing active testing over the past month have been provided one swab a week from LabCorp to use for testing our patients. I guess we now know why we haven’t been provided testing swabs from LabCorp. Information about insurance coverage or even the accuracy of the testing is not available yet. The initial assumption is that this direct-to-consumer test is the same one we have had available through the office and probably about 70% accurate.
From the article:
According to the company’s (LabCorp) website, a test result will cost $119. That price includes the kit, two-way overnight shipping, “physician services” and the test in LabCorp’s laboratory.
The FDA’s fast-track program for COVID-19 testing
The FDA has significantly loosened approval requirements for any testing related to the COVID-19 epidemic. This has allowed a flood of testing that does not have an independent assessment of the reliability of the new test. Like all of the “fast tracked” medications and technologies in the last few months we have no idea about the actual accuracy of these tests. It is thought that the currently available tests for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies is less than 50% accurate. Soon the CDC and FDA will catch up enough to start reviewing all these fast tracked tests for their reliability. Until then, we are left wondering how useful all these new tests really are.
More drug testing against the coronavirus around the corner?
Due to a great deal of sophisticated virus testing there are currently up to 30 drugs that stop the virus from growing in a laboratory setting. Over half of these were in doses that would be tolerated in humans. We’ll see what further research develops out of this finding.
Dr. Gipson
These are always so helpful. Thank you for doing this! [I love the photos from the vault!]
I always hope it is helpful. Too much mis- and disinformation out there.
The pic is from Walburga.