Prospects for hydroxychloroquine are getting worse –Laminute.info

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The study has its limits, mainly because it is observational, rather than a carefully randomized study. But its large sample size dwarfs that of any other study of these drugs to date, including those that have found potential benefit. As the authors note, this is the most in-depth analysis of drugs reported in the real world.

Randomized trials of hydroxychloroquine are still underway, but it is becoming increasingly unlikely that any of these drugs will work for those most in need of life-saving therapy. Instead, they could very well endanger the patient’s health.

The damage caused by Covid-19

Most people who get covid-19 will survive, but new JAMA study this week strong points the horrific bodily harm it causes to those who die from it. German researchers have published their autopsy results from 10 covid-19 patients who died in April.

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In all cases, the virus had caused extensive damage to the lungs, leading to a condition known as acute respiratory distress syndrome, or ARDS. The lungs of people with ARDS fill with fluid, which then effectively drowns them, depriving them of oxygen. One patient’s lungs had become so scarred that almost all of the lung tissue. In the process, oxygen and carbon dioxide had been destroyed.

Some patients also appeared to develop secondary infections or aspiration, which is when someone inhales a foreign object or fluid in their windpipe. A few had signs of heart inflammation, but it was unclear whether this inflammation was part of the immune system. response to an infection or something directly caused by the virus, as other research has suggested. They found no evidence in these patients that the virus had migrated to the central nervous system, as some scientists believe.

Some people who survive the infection may experience long-term complications, such as breathing problems, loss of smell, and other organ damage. And it will take years to understand all the ways in which covid-19 can harm us.

A marker for reopening

This week, Johns Hopkins University, which has been monitoring covid-19 cases and deaths since almost the start of its global spread, unveiled another practical tool.

The World Health Organization has recommended that countries only begin considering lifting distance and business restrictions after the rate of positive daily test covid-19 results has dropped below 5%. for at least two weeks. This threshold likely indicates that countries have put in place an extensive screening system and are managing the epidemic with enough resources, such as hospital beds, to save.

Johns Hopkins researchers applied the same criteria to the 50 American states as well as to Puerto Rico and Washington D.C.

As of May 22, according to their data, 29 regions have not yet reached the reopening point. These include Maryland, Virginia, D.C. and Colorado, all of which have a seven-day moving average of positive tests above 10%. Puerto Rico has a seven-day moving average of 100% positive tests, although this may further point to the lack of test data available in the territory. The states with the lowest positive rates are Hawaii, Alaska, Montana, and Vermont, all below 1%. New York State, which has recorded the highest number of cases and deaths reported in the United States, oscillates a little more than 5%, which reflects its improvement (at its peak, nearly 50% of the daily tests were positive).

Positive test rates aren’t the only indicator of state security to reopen – other important measures include trends in reported hospitalizations and deaths, as well as the crude number of cases. Recently, there have been concerns that several states have confused their figures by including two different types of tests in their tally. But even as part of the simplest measure, it appears that much of the United States is still unprepared for reopening.

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