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SheltieLover
SheltieLover's Journal
SheltieLover's Journal
May 7, 2020
Hospitals and physicians around the country are sharply criticizing the federal government for the uneven and opaque way it is distributing its supply of the Covid-19 drug remdesivir.
The experimental drug received an emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration last week, after preliminary data from a clinical trial showed that it reduced how long it took hospitalized Covid-19 patients to recover. Now, as the drug’s producer, Gilead Sciences, tries to ramp up production, the U.S. government is starting to distribute the limited number of vials that aren’t needed for ongoing research, so that patients can start to see the benefit outside of clinical trials.
More at link.
Doctors lambaste federal process for distributing Covid-19 drug remdesivir
https://www.statnews.com/2020/05/06/doctors-lambaste-federal-process-for-distributing-covid-19-drug-remdesivir/Hospitals and physicians around the country are sharply criticizing the federal government for the uneven and opaque way it is distributing its supply of the Covid-19 drug remdesivir.
The experimental drug received an emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration last week, after preliminary data from a clinical trial showed that it reduced how long it took hospitalized Covid-19 patients to recover. Now, as the drug’s producer, Gilead Sciences, tries to ramp up production, the U.S. government is starting to distribute the limited number of vials that aren’t needed for ongoing research, so that patients can start to see the benefit outside of clinical trials.
More at link.
May 7, 2020
Vaccines to prevent Covid-19 infection are hurtling through development at speeds never before seen. But mounting promises that some vaccine may be available for emergency use as early as the autumn are fueling expectations that are simply unrealistic, experts warn.
Even if the stages of vaccine development could be compressed and supplies could be rapidly manufactured and deployed, it could take many more months or longer before most Americans would be able to roll up their sleeves. And in many countries around the world, the wait could be far longer still — perpetuating the worldwide risk the new coronavirus poses for several years to come.
That reality is being obscured by reports that some of the earliest vaccine candidates — including one from the biotechnology company Moderna and another from University of Oxford — may within months have enough evidence behind them to be administered on an emergency use basis.
More at link.
Mounting promises on Covid-19 vaccines are fueling false expectations, experts say
https://www.statnews.com/2020/05/06/mounting-promises-on-covid-vaccines/Vaccines to prevent Covid-19 infection are hurtling through development at speeds never before seen. But mounting promises that some vaccine may be available for emergency use as early as the autumn are fueling expectations that are simply unrealistic, experts warn.
Even if the stages of vaccine development could be compressed and supplies could be rapidly manufactured and deployed, it could take many more months or longer before most Americans would be able to roll up their sleeves. And in many countries around the world, the wait could be far longer still — perpetuating the worldwide risk the new coronavirus poses for several years to come.
That reality is being obscured by reports that some of the earliest vaccine candidates — including one from the biotechnology company Moderna and another from University of Oxford — may within months have enough evidence behind them to be administered on an emergency use basis.
More at link.
May 7, 2020
Treating Covid-19 patients with medicines to prevent blood clots might help reduce deaths in patients on ventilators, based on new observational data.
A team from Mount Sinai Health System in New York on Wednesday reported better results for hospitalized Covid-19 patients who received anticoagulant drugs compared to patients who didn’t. The data are preliminary and require confirmation in larger studies with a more robust design, the authors say about their study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, but their findings add weight to medical guidelines.
While there are no firm data on the frequency of clotting problems in Covid-19 patients, there have been troubling anecdotal reports of patients whose lungs are peppered with tiny clots or who have suffered strokes. Last month, other Mount Sinai doctors detailed strokes in five Covid-19 patients in their 30s and 40s, an unusually young age for such a damaging cardiovascular event.
More at link.
Giving blood thinners to severely ill Covid-19 patients is gaining ground
https://www.statnews.com/2020/05/06/giving-blood-thinners-to-severely-ill-covid19-patients-gaining-ground/Treating Covid-19 patients with medicines to prevent blood clots might help reduce deaths in patients on ventilators, based on new observational data.
A team from Mount Sinai Health System in New York on Wednesday reported better results for hospitalized Covid-19 patients who received anticoagulant drugs compared to patients who didn’t. The data are preliminary and require confirmation in larger studies with a more robust design, the authors say about their study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, but their findings add weight to medical guidelines.
While there are no firm data on the frequency of clotting problems in Covid-19 patients, there have been troubling anecdotal reports of patients whose lungs are peppered with tiny clots or who have suffered strokes. Last month, other Mount Sinai doctors detailed strokes in five Covid-19 patients in their 30s and 40s, an unusually young age for such a damaging cardiovascular event.
More at link.
May 7, 2020
I’ve been a nurse for almost 10 years, working mainly on a hospital’s cardiac floor.
One day I was assigned to a makeshift intensive care unit that had previously been an observation unit for highly stable patients waiting for test results. Many of the patients in this new Covid-19 unit were intubated, with ventilators breathing for them.
When I started the shift, a trained intensive care unit nurse was crying in the supply closet. She was overwhelmed and anxious, hadn’t worked on her familiar unit in weeks, and had been told that her next shift would be an overnight one — and she had no choice in the matter.
Much more at link. 😳🤯
I'm a nurse in a Covid-19 unit. My hospital's leaders frighten me more than the virus
https://www.statnews.com/2020/05/06/nurse-frightened-hospital-administrators-more-than-covid-19/I’ve been a nurse for almost 10 years, working mainly on a hospital’s cardiac floor.
One day I was assigned to a makeshift intensive care unit that had previously been an observation unit for highly stable patients waiting for test results. Many of the patients in this new Covid-19 unit were intubated, with ventilators breathing for them.
When I started the shift, a trained intensive care unit nurse was crying in the supply closet. She was overwhelmed and anxious, hadn’t worked on her familiar unit in weeks, and had been told that her next shift would be an overnight one — and she had no choice in the matter.
Much more at link. 😳🤯
May 7, 2020
A small 3D version of the human brain develops key features of Alzheimer’s disease when it is infected with a virus that causes cold sores, scientists reported on Wednesday, adding to the evidence that this most common form of dementia can be caused by a common microbe.
The new research, published in Science Advances, is the first to directly show in a lab model (rather than through circumstantial evidence from human studies) that the herpes simplex virus HSV-1 might cause Alzheimer’s: Human brain-like tissue infected with the virus became riddled with amyloid plaque-like formations — the hallmark of Alzheimer’s. It also developed neuroinflammation and became less effective at conducting electrical signals, all of which happen in Alzheimer’s disease.
“This is a very important paper,” said Dev Devanand, chief of geriatric psychiatry at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, who was not involved in the study and is leading a clinical trial to see whether antiviral drugs can treat mild Alzheimer’s. The HSV-1 findings “support the role of viruses in Alzheimer’s disease."
More at link.
Using human brain tissue in lab dishes, researchers show herpes link to Alzheimer's
https://www.statnews.com/2020/05/06/researchers-show-herpes-link-to-alzheimers/A small 3D version of the human brain develops key features of Alzheimer’s disease when it is infected with a virus that causes cold sores, scientists reported on Wednesday, adding to the evidence that this most common form of dementia can be caused by a common microbe.
The new research, published in Science Advances, is the first to directly show in a lab model (rather than through circumstantial evidence from human studies) that the herpes simplex virus HSV-1 might cause Alzheimer’s: Human brain-like tissue infected with the virus became riddled with amyloid plaque-like formations — the hallmark of Alzheimer’s. It also developed neuroinflammation and became less effective at conducting electrical signals, all of which happen in Alzheimer’s disease.
“This is a very important paper,” said Dev Devanand, chief of geriatric psychiatry at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, who was not involved in the study and is leading a clinical trial to see whether antiviral drugs can treat mild Alzheimer’s. The HSV-1 findings “support the role of viruses in Alzheimer’s disease."
More at link.
May 7, 2020
Ruth Bader Ginsburg destroys Trump solicitor general in live hearing from her hospital bed
Published 8 hours ago on May 6, 2020By David Edwards
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg blasted the Trump administration for a rule that allows additional businesses to opt-out of providing no-cost birth control for women.
Ginsburg made the remarks during a telephone hearing that was streamed live due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The justice reportedly joined the hearing from her hospital bed where she is being treated for a gallstone infection.
More at link.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg destroys Trump solicitor general in live hearing from her hospital bed
https://www.rawstory.com/2020/05/ruth-bader-ginsburg-destroys-trump-solicitor-general-in-live-hearing-from-her-hospital-bed/
Ruth Bader Ginsburg destroys Trump solicitor general in live hearing from her hospital bed
Published 8 hours ago on May 6, 2020By David Edwards
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg blasted the Trump administration for a rule that allows additional businesses to opt-out of providing no-cost birth control for women.
Ginsburg made the remarks during a telephone hearing that was streamed live due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The justice reportedly joined the hearing from her hospital bed where she is being treated for a gallstone infection.
More at link.
May 7, 2020
‘They’re trying to squash me’: Report details the feds brazenly seizing medical supplies — despite official denials
Published 1 min ago on May 6, 2020By Roxanne Cooper
A new report from Vanity Fair’s Diana Falzone published Wednesday recounts a series of stories in which the federal government has allegedly seized personal protective equipment — desperately needed during the coronavirus crisis — from private hands.
One businessman who owns a medical equipment supply firm said the FBI contacted him on the suspicion he was price-gouging, which he said his profit margins disproved. But his future shipments of N95 masks, which he planned to sell to “fire departments, nursing homes, and EMT departments,” were seized by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, he said. Vanity fair reported that the document officials used to seize his orders cited President Donald Trump’s executive order claiming authority to determine the allocation of COVID-19 resources.
More at link.
'They're trying to squash me': Report details the feds brazenly seizing medical supplies -- despite o
https://www.rawstory.com/2020/05/theyre-trying-to-squash-me-report-details-the-feds-brazenly-seizing-medical-supplies-despite-official-denials/‘They’re trying to squash me’: Report details the feds brazenly seizing medical supplies — despite official denials
Published 1 min ago on May 6, 2020By Roxanne Cooper
A new report from Vanity Fair’s Diana Falzone published Wednesday recounts a series of stories in which the federal government has allegedly seized personal protective equipment — desperately needed during the coronavirus crisis — from private hands.
One businessman who owns a medical equipment supply firm said the FBI contacted him on the suspicion he was price-gouging, which he said his profit margins disproved. But his future shipments of N95 masks, which he planned to sell to “fire departments, nursing homes, and EMT departments,” were seized by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, he said. Vanity fair reported that the document officials used to seize his orders cited President Donald Trump’s executive order claiming authority to determine the allocation of COVID-19 resources.
More at link.
May 6, 2020
By ERIC TUCKER and CARLA K. JOHNSON Associated Press | May 6, 2020 at 4:16 AM CDT - Updated May 6 at 4:13 PM
WASHINGTON (AP) — As Europe and the U.S. loosen their lockdowns against the coronavirus, health experts are expressing growing dread over what they say is an all-but-certain second wave of deaths and infections that could force governments to clamp back down.
“We’re risking a backslide that will be intolerable,” said Dr. Ian Lipkin of Columbia University’s Center for Infection and Immunity.
Around the world, German authorities began drawing up plans in case of a resurgence of the virus. Experts in Italy urged intensified efforts to identify new victims and trace their contacts. And France, which hasn’t yet eased its lockdown, has already worked up a “reconfinement plan” in the event of a new wave.
More at link.
If this thing boomerangs': Second wave of infections feared
https://www.wmcactionnews5.com/2020/05/06/struggles-india-brazil-us-show-coronavirus-fight-far-won/By ERIC TUCKER and CARLA K. JOHNSON Associated Press | May 6, 2020 at 4:16 AM CDT - Updated May 6 at 4:13 PM
WASHINGTON (AP) — As Europe and the U.S. loosen their lockdowns against the coronavirus, health experts are expressing growing dread over what they say is an all-but-certain second wave of deaths and infections that could force governments to clamp back down.
“We’re risking a backslide that will be intolerable,” said Dr. Ian Lipkin of Columbia University’s Center for Infection and Immunity.
Around the world, German authorities began drawing up plans in case of a resurgence of the virus. Experts in Italy urged intensified efforts to identify new victims and trace their contacts. And France, which hasn’t yet eased its lockdown, has already worked up a “reconfinement plan” in the event of a new wave.
More at link.
May 6, 2020
OLIVE BRANCH, Miss. — Could the coronavirus be the new normal for the next two years?
A new study from the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy suggests the COVID-19 outbreak will be around until 60 to 70% of the human population is immune to the virus, taking anywhere between 18 to 24 months.
Nearly two months into a global pandemic, Jonie McCollum of Olive Branch is getting used to a coronavirus-conscious lifestyle.
More at link.
Study: Coronavirus outbreak could last up to two more years
https://wreg.com/news/study-coronavirus-outbreak-could-last-up-to-two-more-years/OLIVE BRANCH, Miss. — Could the coronavirus be the new normal for the next two years?
A new study from the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy suggests the COVID-19 outbreak will be around until 60 to 70% of the human population is immune to the virus, taking anywhere between 18 to 24 months.
Nearly two months into a global pandemic, Jonie McCollum of Olive Branch is getting used to a coronavirus-conscious lifestyle.
More at link.
May 6, 2020
The Arizona Department of Health Services told a team of university experts working on COVID-19 modeling to "pause" its work, an email from a department leader shows.
The modeling team of about two dozen professors at Arizona State University and the University of Arizona was compiling the most robust public model in Arizona of COVID-19.
The email, from DHS bureau chief of public health statistics S. Robert Bailey, came on Monday evening, after Gov. Doug Ducey announced plans to begin easing social distancing in the coming days.
ABC15 first reported on the email stopping the modelers' work.
More at link.
[AZ]State health department tells university COVID-19 modeling team to stop work, limits data access
https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona-health/2020/05/05/coronavirus-officials-stop-arizona-state-university-covid-19-modeling-team/5173380002/The Arizona Department of Health Services told a team of university experts working on COVID-19 modeling to "pause" its work, an email from a department leader shows.
The modeling team of about two dozen professors at Arizona State University and the University of Arizona was compiling the most robust public model in Arizona of COVID-19.
The email, from DHS bureau chief of public health statistics S. Robert Bailey, came on Monday evening, after Gov. Doug Ducey announced plans to begin easing social distancing in the coming days.
ABC15 first reported on the email stopping the modelers' work.
More at link.
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