Time to stop thinking about hydroxychloroquine
Finally a study has produced results that put the question of hydroxychloroquine use in COVID-19 off the table of consideration.
A study of 890 individuals who had been exposed to COVID-19 were either given hydroxychloroquine or placebo. The participants were health care workers and people who had been exposed at home to ill spouses, partners or parents, or other individuals who had the illness or tested positive. 88% of them were unprotected at the time of close exposure and within 6 feet of an infected or test-positive person. Two-thirds were healthcare workers.
Those taking hydroxychloroquine had the same risk as those taking placebo of getting the infection after exposure. Also those who got the illness had the same intensity and duration of symptoms as those who did not take the drug.
This is solid information about the lack of benefit of this drug in preventing or treating outpatient COVID-19. This study now complements the studies in critically ill individuals that showed no benefits from taking it.
As far as I am concerned, the dialogue about the use of hydroxychloroquine in COVID-19 is closed.
Vaccine trials updates
According to Dr. Anthony Fauci, there are 4 or 5 drug trials underway that may yield results and allow production of several hundred million vaccines by early 2021.
I am aware of only two trials that have published or discussed preliminary results, but I am sure Dr. Fauci is privy to more information than is currently available to most of us.
The final proof of safety and effectiveness is still far away. Each vaccine appears to induce immunity to the virus by various means, so the fact different types of vaccines appear to be inducing desired immune responses allows for optimism that at least one of them will work well and safely.
Reading between the lines, it appears that these companies are also ramping up production along with their experimental trials. Normally a company will ramp up production after the vaccine is proven safe, effective, and FDA approved. So this is very unusual business behavior for vaccine manufacturers.
As mentioned before, there are about 100 different vaccine candidates, but only this handful are in active clinical research with a timeline of results within a year.
Concerns remain about the use of proper and peer-reviewed methodology and reporting of results because of the massive amount of financial reward for a proven vaccine. Apparently there is a call for an investigation into the early Moderna vaccine information release, as several executives made quite a bit of money on the news.
Sometimes big business, good science, and what’s best for everyone do not always turn out to be winners on the same project. We’ll have to see how this turns out.
Dogs
Apparently a German shepherd in New York has a respiratory illness and tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. So much for the early statements about cats getting it but dogs not.
Continued world-wide spread of the coronavirus
Although overshadowed by other current US events, the increasing spread of the virus in Latin America, Africa, Asia and the Middle East shows that the virus is still moving significantly through the population.
The significant temporary reduction in cases in the US has allowed more relaxed movement and gathering, but we will have to see if there is a significant rise in cases with this change.
Dr. Gipson
