[OP]
Member
Just saw this in the NY Post:
https://nypost.com/2020/03/19/old-ma...navirus-study/
An ancient (1950's?) malaria drug, combined with an antibiotic, eliminated the virus within 3 days in all infected people. The malaria drug is being _donated_ to the US Government by Bayer (cool!)
Contributor
That's interesting. When I was in Vietnam we had to take a chloroquine/primaquine pill once a week for malaria. I think that's different from the drug in the article you posted but maybe anti-malaria drugs in general will help in treatment.
Mike
Last edited by Mike Henderson; 03-19-2020 at 2:02 PM.
Go into the world and do well. But more importantly, go into the world and do good.
Contributor
Tiny trial (16 patients, I think), open label, so no control arm, questionable data reporting (as someone put it, "when biologists leave the error bars off you know the data ")
A bunch of people will jump on this and gather real data over the next couple of weeks. That's certainly worth doing, but don't hold your breath on this turning out to be a cure-all.
Our government just re-authorized an Indian company that makes chloroquine to manufacture for the US despite it having been previously barred for repeatedly flunking FRA checks because of poor quality product. I can't say that I'm thrilled about that.
Last edited by Lee Schierer; 03-19-2020 at 3:19 PM.
Member
A bunch of hopeful findings on chloroquine/hydroxychloroquine have trickled out over the past month or so. I'm very cautiously optimistic. They're being used in a lot of places at this point - part of it is probably wishful thinking (they're old, reasonably well-tolerated drugs, so the downside is limited in a lot of cases), but the evidence is starting to mount. They're both old enough that they should be available as generics, which will make it a lot easier to produce sufficient quantities if it turns out they're useful. The earliest results from any decently-sized clinical trials that I'm aware of are supposed to be released in May.
Contributor
I hope it doesn't turn out to be a case of shoot, ready, aim, but hydroxychloroquine took center stage at the White House press briefing today. Fauci wasn't there today, and I'd really be excited if he gets behind it. I do hope it proves effective either way.
At the very least there is a monumental effort ongoing on both the vaccine and antiviral therapeutics tracks, in various countries. If it turns out that hydroxychloroquine or any other approved drug for another indication turns out to be effective in the treatment of COVID-19, it would really be phenomenal.
Member
This seems to be premature news story which makes me leery. While I hope it is helpful to those who contract COVID 19 I also hope people do not become complacent about spreading the disease. We live in a country where facts and non-facts are easily warped and distorted and this is a good example of when sources should stay tight lipped until more is known.
[OP]
Member
The drugs separately are "already approved", as far as I know, they are just not approved in combination for this purpose, because the purpose didn't exist until just now. But a doctor can write any prescription he wants, so it does matter that this is known, if you're seriously ill and you were gonna die anyway. :^/Originally Posted by John Goodin
Last edited by Doug Dawson; 03-19-2020 at 5:02 PM.
Contributor
Not everybody is going to die, though some will. Here locally we have an OBGYN who tested positive Imagine his patients horror now.
Contributor
Not think have cure yet but sure would be farther along if china not did the cover my a-- for weeks.
Contributor
There are several cases I know of, where previously approved drugs get approved for new uses. Maybe this will be another. Too soon to tell, but it's something to hope for.
"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."
“If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals.”
Member
Things were downplayed here as well.
Contributor
Well in usa media is free to print storys when chose to.
Contributor
I will believe there is cure or a vaccine when there is some official announcement from the FDA and/or the CDC. I wouldn't put a lot of hope on this one until there is a lot more data.
Ken
So much to learn, so little time.....
Contributor
China was a bad actor in all of this. They were not alone in posterior covering or misinformation on this one.
jtk
"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
- Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
Contributor
We're still in the midst of the crisis. There's a better direction for our energy than looking for a villain to blame.
I say taking care of the sick and preventing the spread should be the priority. Helping the economically devastated also belongs on the list. Italy deserves everyone's empathy.
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