Glenn Ellis: COVID-19 Vaccine and Treatment Study | News

In the spirit of doing our best to keep you informed about the important aspects of this COVID-19 Pandemic, I would like to continue to write about what we all have to think about moving forward. It was.

Yes, certainly we have to start a lot of thinking. In most cases, we are thinking about not paying attention to other methods. Clinical trial. Antibody testing; vaccine candidates; treatment.

As you know, COVID will be with us for a long time, so it is important to develop a habit of learning as much as possible on these topics and more. This column provides a starting point by listing some general facts.

Clinical trials are required to obtain an FDA-approved treatment or vaccine. Since the coronavirus was first identified in China in December 2019, more than 1,100 registered clinical trials have been registered worldwide. 170 of them are devoted to searching for vaccines. The rest are looking at other treatments, including antibody plasma therapy.

Of the 170 companies, the Trump administration has selected five to work on vaccine development at “Warp Speed” (whatever it is). As of June 30, the FDA has issued guidelines calling for the inclusion of diverse populations, but many studies are already underway, and we can be convinced that there is little or no under these pandemic situations. .. Oversight to ensure compliance, including blacks and other ethnic groups. Don’t be fooled by anyone. This is important. Your health is 80% determined by the social determinants of health in the community in which you live. Therefore, it is good science to ensure that clinical trials of a drug or treatment include study participants that reflect the general population of the drug or treatment. You want to check this out to inform yourself of any decisions you make for yourself or your family.

The antibody test will be followed by those infected with COVID-19. This test shows whether the person’s immune system is producing antibodies. This is the normal reaction of the immune system. If the virus reappears, you already have the antibody ready to attack. Only 12 of the over 200 antibody tests in development or on the market are approved for emergency use. So what about the other 188? Another concern is that at this time no one knows if the antibody actually provides protection and if so, for how long. In addition, the analysis of the results has significantly improved the accuracy of these tests.

Vaccines are making steady progress in the process of development. As mentioned above, “warp speed” is not a typical approach to vaccine development. In particular, I am worried about this, as it is delicate and sometimes political in nature. The development of the polio vaccine was the last opportunity to have a vaccine that would prevent such a pandemic. Keep in mind that there are still no HIV / AIDS vaccines after 40 years. The effectiveness of the influenza vaccine last season was only 45%, up from 29% last year. Still, even a vaccine that is not 100% effective may be enough. At the very least, the vaccine will significantly reduce the severity of the viral infection. COVID-19 is a horrifying way of hijacking and destroying the body, and reducing its severity is not a bad thing. Therefore, you need to make the best decision by considering your health condition and risk factors.

Even those who used to think of themselves as “anti-boxers”, COVID-19 required us all to think about thongs in a new way.

Experimental treatment is the standard treatment in the absence of an approved treatment. Remember the medicine that President Trump recommended hydroxychloroquine? Well, it seems he didn’t go for it. There have been hundreds of trials around the world trying to see if it works. Rendescivir is another drug designed to prevent the virus from replicating in the body. During times when a pandemic does not occur, careful clinical trials will show the efficacy of the drug against the disease. Or sick. Currently, there are numerous “workarounds” in clinical care. A caring use program allows the use of untested therapies. Older drugs are considered by doctors in unprecedented situations. Research is rushed to publication without peer review. It goes without saying that media coverage is constantly flowing, and in most cases it is rarely scrutinized, usually jumping almost verbatim from the company press releases to the research findings reported to us.

Now, whether we like it or not, we all accept that things will be different. Really different We need to start getting information and learn more about these things. Come on, everyone. Let’s do what we’ve been doing for a long time. We use common sense to make informed decisions and pay attention to each other.