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2020-05-16 Science & Technology
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NIH to study malaria drug championed by President Trump against COVID-19
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[Jpost] The National Institutes of Health (NIH) said on Thursday it began a study to evaluate the combination of antibiotic azithromycin and malaria drug hydroxychloroquine, which was previously touted by US President Donald Trump
...the Nailer of NAFTA...
as a "game changer," for the treatment of COVID-19.
The mid-stage study, for which Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd will be donating medicines, will assess whether the combination can prevent hospitalization and death from COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the coronavirus (aka COVID19 or Chinese Plague)
 ...the twenty first century equivalent of bubonic plague, only instead of killing off a third of the population of Europe it kills 3.4 percent of those who notice they have it. It seems to be fond of the elderly, especially Iranian politicians and holy men...
.The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the NIH, is sponsoring the trial, which is being conducted by the NIAID-funded AIDS Clinical Trials Group (ACTG).
"Although there is anecdotal evidence that hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin may benefit people with COVID-19, we need solid data from a large randomized, controlled clinical trial to determine whether this experimental treatment is safe and can improve clinical outcomes," NIAID Director Anthony Fauci said on Thursday.
The announcement comes after the US Department of Health and Human Services had last month replaced Rick Bright as director of a key U.S. agency charged with developing drugs and vaccines for COVID-19.
Bright had said he was ousted as director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, or BARDA, because he resisted efforts to push hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine to treat COVID-19 as their effectiveness had not been demonstrated.
The NIH's latest study will enroll about 2,000 adults at clinical sites across the country, with many of those expected to be 60 years of age or older or have a comorbidity associated with developing serious complications from COVID-19, such as a cardiovascular disease or diabetes.
The politicization of hydroxychloroquine has been one of the most frustrating aspects of Trump Derangement Syndrome during this pandemic. Early studies in France and clinical outcomes from multiple treating physicians using a combination therapy that included the drug provided hope to combat the virus. However, it made President Trump hopeful, so it had to be obliterated.
The reaction to hydroxychloroquine was very perplexing. The NIH studied drug’s older cousin chloroquine following the SARS epidemic. In 2005 the NIH noted chloroquine had both prophylactic effects for prevention and anti-viral effects in cell cultures:
Conclusion
Chloroquine is effective in preventing the spread of SARS CoV in cell culture. Favorable inhibition of virus spread was observed when the cells were either treated with chloroquine prior to or after SARS CoV infection. In addition, the indirect immunofluorescence assay described herein represents a simple and rapid method for screening SARS-CoV antiviral compounds.
Because of how the drug works, especially in combination with zinc, Dr. Anthony Fauci’s inability to articulate the clinical case for exploring it was quite odd. His own agency had investigated chloroquine in a dozen ways following the SARS outbreak. It makes logical sense if chloroquine could inhibit viruses in vitro that its lower-risk cousin would have a similar effect. The science was always on the president’s side for use of the three-drug combination in the early course of illness. Fauci’s inability to articulate it was maddening and, in my own opinion, quite suspicious.
In the press release for the NIH’s new hydroxychloroquine study, Dr. Fauci offers a rationale for the new trial:
“We urgently need a safe and effective treatment for COVID-19. Repurposing existing drugs is an attractive option because these medications have undergone extensive testing, allowing them to move quickly into clinical trials and accelerating their potential approval for COVID-19 treatment,” said NIAID Director Anthony S. Fauci, M.D. “Although there is anecdotal evidence that hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin may benefit people with COVID-19, we need solid data from a large randomized, controlled clinical trial to determine whether this experimental treatment is safe and can improve clinical outcomes.”
I agree wholeheartedly. With a background and education in health care, I would be loath to take a drug that is not at least 10 years old and preferably a generic. By then all side effects are known, the class action suits have started, and you know it doesn’t have a black box warning. I’d prefer this cocktail to the new drug Remdesivir any day of the week based on age and previous usage.
However, every clinician who has shared his or her success in treating patients early emphasized the role of zinc. Hydroxychloroquine holds the door to the cell open so zinc can run inside and stop the virus from making photocopies of itself. They work together to stop the viral load from increasing so the patient’s own immune system has a better shot. The NIH trial does not include the mineral. This requires some explanation given what the NIH already knows.
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Posted by trailing wife 2020-05-16 00:00||
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Posted by M. Murcek 2020-05-16 12:02||
2020-05-16 12:02||
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Posted by Clem 2020-05-16 18:54||
2020-05-16 18:54||
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