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OT: I just tested positive with COVID


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3 minutes ago, CTM said:

Are you unemployed? Why do you need anything today and why should government be funding anything than necessities?

What would you call a necessity?  Rent? Food, utility bills? For a typhical NYer, that is well over 2000 a month

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Call it what it is. A political chess move

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1 hour ago, Scott Dierking said:

Rangers9, there has been some anecdotal evidence, and some doctors that feel this may be a possible way to relieve some symptoms and most importantly buy some time and maybe even save some lives.

I have no idea. But that there have been some very respected health experts that say it deserves a chance, I will cling to that hope.

As far as my motive? Well, I would kind of like to have this nightmare come to an end earlier, have lives saved and allow all of us to thrive and prosper. Maybe that is selfish on my part.

I have not mentioned anything regarding politics. It has been YOU, that has done that in each of your answers. I will ask you, you do you seem to not think this is actually going live Tuesday, and why do you discourage hope?

While you haven't mentioned politics beneath this there is politics. But I shouldn't bring it up even though it's obvious. 

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5 minutes ago, sirlancemehlot said:

All you numbers are nonsense.  Not trying to be rude, the numbers exist certainly, but they aren't representative of anything.  West Virginia had zero cases recently.  Awesome.  Except it wasn't true.  west Virginia just hadn't tested a single soul until recently.  Suddenly their numbers spike.  Cuomo did an end-around and decided to test statewide with fewer restrictions than the federal mandate.  With lots of new testing the number of cases exploded making it appear as if NY was the epicenter of the virus.  But the numbers lie.  The increases and flattening curves you discuss are also simply numbers unsupported by actual trend, because in order for there to be a scientific evaluation, you must have equal values to all but a single variable for which you are trying to test.  This data is based on counting.  Simple counting.  Not real trends, not likelihood of one outcome or another, just flat numbers.  When South Korea was rolling out 10,000 tests per day, and the US was testing fewer than 70 people per week in early march, South Korea was looking like it was about to be wiped off the map.  Turns out, as we catch up to their numbers in testing, it only shows that the US was wayyy late to the game in preparedness and response, meaning we are more likely to have a greater outbreak percentage-wise since our much larger population has been passing Covid around far longer than Korea or Italy, who went into early lockdowns because their testing revealed the real threat.  As for warmer weather?  Check a Map of the US for Covid cases.  Florida and Louisiana and Texas and Arizona should all be Covid free.  they aren't.  The virus outbreak is unaffected by temperature and is far more closely tied to population and population density.  Your best bet right now is move to North Dakota, not Fort Lauderdale.

huh?

My numbers are going off whats available today understanding their limitations. SK has actually tested the most, which i said earlier. And.. they have a CFR of around 1.1 + seem to have contained virus and are now using more targeted containment. Both bits of information are very good news compared to what was circulated 2 weeks ago.

re: the bolded. Again, nobody is suggesting 0 transmission rate in warm weather, a reduced R naught has a massive, massive impact on every metric downstream. Florida and Texas are both having much more mangeable outbreaks as of right now. I agree testing is problematic, but lets assume mortality statistics are more accurate. NY has 113 deaths, Florida 13 and Texas  has 5. Assuming similiar  CFR, these numbers support seasonality right now but of course are subject to change.

 

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12 minutes ago, More Cowbell said:

What would you call a necessity?  Rent? Food, utility bills? For a typhical NYer, that is well over 2000 a month

Edit

Call it what it is. A political chess move

I really don't understand what point you are making. Of course politics are involved. Warren and Sanders howling about 10k of tuition forgiveness today is politics, and not at all related or helpful. Putting money in displaced peoples hands is helpful. And i completely agree wtih Dems that we should use unemployment system and Trumps idea of payroll tax cuts suck

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5 minutes ago, Rangers9 said:

While you haven't mentioned politics beneath this there is politics. But I shouldn't bring it up even though it's obvious. 

I could not care less about any politics in this. Although you keep bringing those up, making me believe that your underpinning is political.

Here--This is political as I can get here--Cuomo is a Democrat. Trump is a Republican. Cuomo asked that they be allowed to test this to help in their cases.  I truly believe that both of them would like to see some sort of end to this pandemic. I am foolish enough to believe that is a shared motivation. Call me a dreamer.

You have disputed facts here, and frankly confused the true issue. Let us both pray that NY is at the forefront of discovering some breakthrough in testing these drugs. Whomever takes credit, if that is the case, I do not care.

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1 minute ago, Green DNA said:

Interesting thread.  Almost entertaining if it wasn't such a serious topic.  

Posters range from very chill to paranoid to tin foil hat type of stuff.  Lost in the nonsense are some very rational, well thought out, factually correct posts.   

Don't rely on your friends, neighbors or JN posters for info about the virus, go to a reputable source:  https://www.who.int/

 

Stay safe.

 

How reputable was that source when they parroted communist china misinformation?

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1 hour ago, Scott Dierking said:

 

 

1 hour ago, BornJetsFan1983 said:

Yeah that's why I presented the fact that people are trying because of positive results so far, meaning they are now trying it out to see if it will work. I swear it's tough to keep up with all your comments, they either misquote me or try to demean me, all for bringing up the obvious. I hope next week you all that take time to disagree with also admit your error when there isn't the mass deaths and cure is used everywhere. 

I mean look at this comment. Completely obtuse to who he is quoting both in the article and also my comments. No context. So the doc says it's not proven and I say it's not proven  but professions all over are trying it out to see if it will work? Gee, that sounds just like what I said.

But hes not exclusive, many poster kind of have their own idea in their head and dismiss anything disagreeing with them. It's sad. The fact are the facts. 

Can't wait till next week 

the Chinese have been testing this for awhile on actual patients.  Yes it has shown some promise.  Fauci says the evidence is anecdotal, that points out that the promise isn't based on enough scientific data to be meaningful.  You cited the article.  I'm not attacking you.

Today we need to practice something that will stem the tide of the disease.  That something is social distancing. Until we have scientific evidence that something will work on large numbers with side effects that are tolerable reporting on these things as hopeful vs speculative isn't very meaningful. 

We all want to find both treatments and vaccines that will work and put this behind us.  I encourage everyone to write to their representatives and encourage our government to invest more money in science and actually use data to deal with the real issues of the day.  It's also probably a bad idea to purge scientist from foreign countries including ethnic Chinese Americans from data sharing.  This is clearly a world problem and the fear of theft  is keeping the NIH from using some very large data bases.  This is a world problem.  There's lots of data points and testing going on all over the world.  We should be sharing it all. 

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30 minutes ago, CTM said:

It's really that simple. I wish our "leaders" would grow the **** up, stop using this for political gain and unite to deal with a crisis that is threatening all of us.

They are an embarrassment, all of them.

I couldn't agree more... 

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2 hours ago, Rangers9 said:

This is not a complete scientific revue it's taking things out of context. Plus as amateurs we aren't qualified to make decisions based on an abstract or even a complete study. It's inconclusive. Also this journal is open sourcehttps://www.forbes.com/sites/gmoanswers/2016/06/30/predatory-journals/#744e38a655d6 and incomplete in terms of scientific backing. Here is an article about these kinds of sites. It's not necessarily fake but it's not proof of anything that has gone through the scientific method. These drugs are being studied and lets allow the scientists to make conclusions. I hope they work too but based on what I've read very few studies and not widely used in China or Italy. 

Ok fine...at this point we should be try anything that could possibly save some lives...not claiming there is a high probability that it will work, but let’s go beast mode and look at every option...one of the supercomputers identified 77 possible medications that could work against the virus

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Every person that gets sick and is positive picked up the virus 7-14 days ago.  There is a lag.

For those who have been self-isolating who have not picked up the virus yet, hopefully they don't pick up the virus from going to the park, handling food/groceries, or socializing more than they should.  I am not leaving the house now, at all, except to run where there are no people.  

So, for the most part, each person that shows up sick today picked up the virus before serious isolation procedures were put into place.

Based on my humble calculations, these are the infection cases, per million, in NYC, Westchester, Nassau and Suffolk.

NYC:  1076

Nassau:  1398

Suffolk:  698

Westchester: 1935

All of these numbers, except Suffolks, exceed Italy's of 968.  But Italy is very deceptive-2/3 of their cases are located in the north where 10mm live.  If you adjust the numbers, Northern Italy's cases per million are almost 4000.  Almost 10% of Italians die from the disease-those over 60 now are not getting respirators.   Italy also only tests you when you are sick.  

I predict that Nassau and Suffolk greatly exceed Westchester's by next week.  They have much more people, and WC had a specific issue that contributed about a 1/4 of its cases.  

The good news is that Italy has the slowest rate of increase of cases in Western Europe.  They are down in the low-mid teens%.  So isolation, and the fact that those who were going to get sick got sick, is helping.  

NY is testing ALOT of people.  So cases will go up, and fatalities be lower-ish.  

But for NYC and its NY suburbs, assuming Northern Italy we could get 50,000 cases and 5,000 deaths.   I don't think it gets that bad, and my guestimate is that we started isolating half as late as Italy did.   The weather will help.  But from today's 114 deaths in NY, we will see at least 10x that, likely 20.  

But deaths will spike, like Italy's, if healthcare fails.  Italy's healthcare has failed.  I feel terribly for them.

FWIW, Northern Italy is very affluent and sophisticated.  These are not a bunch of olive pickers.  

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29 minutes ago, varjet said:

Every person that gets sick and is positive picked up the virus 7-14 days ago.  There is a lag.

For those who have been self-isolating who have not picked up the virus yet, hopefully they don't pick up the virus from going to the park, handling food/groceries, or socializing more than they should.  I am not leaving the house now, at all, except to run where there are no people.  

So, for the most part, each person that shows up sick today picked up the virus before serious isolation procedures were put into place.

Based on my humble calculations, these are the infection cases, per million, in NYC, Westchester, Nassau and Suffolk.

NYC:  1076

Nassau:  1398

Suffolk:  698

Westchester: 1935

All of these numbers, except Suffolks, exceed Italy's of 968.  But Italy is very deceptive-2/3 of their cases are located in the north where 10mm live.  If you adjust the numbers, Northern Italy's cases per million are almost 4000.  Almost 10% of Italians die from the disease-those over 60 now are not getting respirators.   Italy also only tests you when you are sick.  

I predict that Nassau and Suffolk greatly exceed Westchester's by next week.  They have much more people, and WC had a specific issue that contributed about a 1/4 of its cases.  

The good news is that Italy has the slowest rate of increase of cases in Western Europe.  They are down in the low-mid teens%.  So isolation, and the fact that those who were going to get sick got sick, is helping.  

NY is testing ALOT of people.  So cases will go up, and fatalities be lower-ish.  

But for NYC and its NY suburbs, assuming Northern Italy we could get 50,000 cases and 5,000 deaths.   I don't think it gets that bad, and my guestimate is that we started isolating half as late as Italy did.   The weather will help.  But from today's 114 deaths in NY, we will see at least 10x that, likely 20.  

But deaths will spike, like Italy's, if healthcare fails.  Italy's healthcare has failed.  I feel terribly for them.

FWIW, Northern Italy is very affluent and sophisticated.  These are not a bunch of olive pickers.  

Plus there is a typical factor of 10 for people infected that most people that study infectious diseases use that for every confirmed case you should assume that 9 more are infected without even knowing it... For various reasons... 

Unless you aggressively test everyone like South korea

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2 hours ago, Scott Dierking said:

https://www.msn.com/en-za/news/other/new-york-begins-testing-chloroquine-on-coronavirus-patients/ar-BB11wfe3

New York with the highest confirmed cases of coronavirus in the United States, said it would conduct trials immediately using hydroxychloroquine, a malaria drug combined with the antibiotic Zithromax.

The malaria drug has showed promise in a French study in treating COVID-19, which is caused by the coronavirus. It was also effective in China in treating the disease.

“There is a theory the drug treatment could be helpful,” Governor Andrew Cuomo told reporters Saturday during a news conference reported by VOA.

He said there were people in serious condition and that the state’s health officials were comfortable trying the treatment on those patients. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration was sending New York 10,000 doses of the two drugs.

“As soon as we get those doses, we will work with hospitals, doctors and families on using those drugs and seeing where we get,” Cuomo said.

Haven't been following treatments at all, but apparently someone local was saved by hydroxychloroquine + Zithromax

 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/marybethpfeiffer/2020/03/22/one-patient-dodges-a-covid-bullet-is-she-a-harbinger-or-outlier/#2d9729ae5b84

 

This Coronavirus Patient Dodged A Bullet With Hydroxychloroquine. Is She A Harbinger Or Outlier?

 
Mary Beth PfeifferContributor
 
I am a fire-in-the-belly country journalist who found a scandal in my backyard and wrote a book on it. Government and medicine have systematically failed us on a spreading plague of ticks. And they know it.
  • Margaret Novins talked to me on her cellphone from a hospital bed at CentraState Medical Center in Freehold, N.J.

She had been ill since March 8, toughing it out through fatigue, a cough and fevers that brought on vicious chills for five evenings straight.

Finally, on March 15, she went to an urgent care center and, on March 16, to an emergency room. The attending there called it “conversational dyspnea.”

“I couldn’t breathe,” she said.

Today In: Healthcare

Novins, who shared her lab tests and medication list, got her diagnosis March 19. Next to the entry for SARS-CoV-2 were the words “Detected Critical.” She had the coronavirus, or COVID-19.

To that point, Novins had been a pneumonia patient for three days, treated mainly with antibiotics. But within an hour, a new drug was added to her med list: hydroxychloroquine, a decades-old malaria-turned-autoimmune drug, also called by its brand name Plaquenil. President Trump is touting the drug, some say overselling it, as the possible answer to the COVID-19 crisis.

 

Novins’ responded to the treatment. She was better, though surely not well, the next day.

The fever,” which was still spiking when she was on other meds, “is now gone, which is fantastic,” she said on Saturday March 21, coughing at times but able to speak.

A 53-year-old nurse who described herself as a nonsmoker with no medical issues, Novins spoke to me from the hospital that had cared for some of the seven members of a family ravaged by COVID; two adult brothers, a sister and their mother died from the infection.

“The doctor insisted the pharmacy get it to me the minute we got the positive,” she said of hydroxychloroquine. “It seemed like their go-to right away.”

Margaret Novins' COVID test came back positive. ″Detected Critical,″ the test said.

After three nights in the hospital, Margaret Novins' COVID test came back positive: "Detected ... [+]

 PROVIDED BY MARGARET NOVINS

There are other anecdotal successes like Novins’, including one in which end-of-life discussions for an older parent had been broached — until Plaquenil apparently kicked in. In that case, the family had to plead for, rather than being offered, the drug. 

Anecdotes are surely not science, which for now is limited and new.

Trump is basing his optimism mostly on one small study from Marseilles, France, that, combined with laboratory findings, has prompted ongoing trials in France and the United States. The just-released French study reported that 70 percent of hydroxychloroquine-treated patients, or 14 of 20, were negative for the virus at day 6, as were all six patients who were treated with hydroxychloroquine and the antibiotic azithromycin (which Novins also received). But the study was small – 20 treated patients and 16 controls – and had other serious limitations.

Of concern, six patients dropped out and were not considered in the reported efficacy rates. Three went to intensive care; one died; one left the hospital testing negative, and one opted out due to nausea.

Two scientists at major university centers reviewed the French trial for me. They agreed, separately, that while the study is preliminary, small, and not without flaws, its findings were strong enough, given the drugs’ known safety records, to guide treatment decisions in a crisis.

 “Despite the limitations of this study, in the absence of any effective treatment, in this urgent situation, this Plaquenil and Azithromycin combination therapy should be given to patients with COVID-19 as a treatment option,” Ying Zhang, a professor of microbiology at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, wrote in an email. “For now, there is no time to wait.”

Working against the study, in Zhang’s view: It was not a randomized trial, which would avoid bias; the sample size was small, and the treatment and followup duration was too short. The findings are nonetheless “potentially interesting and justified,” he wrote.

Brian Fallon, a research scientist and clinical trials investigator at the Columbia University Irving Medical Center, agreed on the study’s overall merit despite the patients who dropped out. After analyzing the data and counting all six dropouts as treatment failures, he said the overall rate of improvement was still statistically significant for the entire group, though not for the hydroxychloroquine group alone.

He too had reservations, in particular that the combination therapy group was very small, six patients, and that high doses of the two drugs together carry “serious risk of cardiac arrhythmias.” Physicians must be warned of this, he suggested.  

Nonetheless, he wrote in an email, “Given the life and death situation of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 and the possibility that hydroxychloroquine plus azithromycin may be helpful, it was valuable and ethical for the authors to report these promising, preliminary results.”

Others agreed. Lorraine Johnson, who has published on the use of collected data to improve health care outcomes, said, “It is important right now to take the gloves off clinicians and give them access to all available tools; patients are dying and can’t wait for clinical trials.”

At the same time, she and Zhang, who has published on treatments for difficult infections like tuberculosis and Lyme disease, said a database should be set up to track patients, like Margaret Novins, in order to document drug performance. “I would recommend real-time online posting of treatment evaluation results of the Plaquenil+Azithromycin at multi-center sites across the US and the Globe,” Zhang wrote. “Someone has to coordinate this online registry and resources.” He added that other treatments should be included.

Supply issues raised

In a 1982 drug bulletin, the FDA encouraged so-called off-label use of approved drugs: “Valid new uses for drugs already on the market are often first discovered through serendipitous observations and therapeutic innovations, subsequently confirmed by well-planned and executed clinical investigations.” 

In the real world, however, a rush to put a relatively safe approved drug to a vastly expanded new use may reduce supplies for others who need it, including lupus, rheumatoid arthritis and Lyme disease sufferers.

Kenneth Farber, president of the Lupus Research Alliance, said there were shortages of Plaquenil throughout the United States and especially in New York and California. 

Asked about supplies, a spokesperson for CVS Health, T.J. Crawford, said the drug-store chain has an “adequate supply on-hand” of hydroxychloroquine but supply of a related drug, chloroquine, “is tight across the marketplace.”

Jane Marke, a New York City psychiatrist who takes Plaquenil for Lyme disease, said she had trouble getting her prescription filled at several city chains. After reading the French study, she understands why. “It is really possible that this is a major breakthrough,” she said, envisioning a time when a good test could pick up early infections and the drug would stop the epidemic in its tracks.

In that vein, the University of Minnesota is organizing a trial to treat 1,500 people with hydroxychloroquine who were exposed to the virus from infected family members or as healthcare workers but are not yet ill. The study relied on laboratory experiments in China that found hydroxychloroquine inhibited the infection.

“If effective, this may become a worldwide standard of care for helping prevent disease in other healthcare workers and people exposed,” Dr. David Boulware, a U of M professor of medicine, said in announcing the study.

A key advantage of an off-patent generic drug like hydroxychloroquine: “A five-day treatment course would cost approximately $12,” Boulware said.

Novins, meantime, is expecting to leave the hospital in a day or two. As a nurse for a medical equipment company, she believes she contracted the infection not from a patient but while conducting a day-long training session.

Nonetheless, she said in a text, “I feel fortunate.”

“From my notes it is clear that my fevers and horrible chills I fought hard from 3/8-3/18 turned the corner the day I started Plaquenil 3/19,” she wrote.

While she said COVID is a “violent illness,” Novins never was in intensive care or on a respirator. The French study offers a mere glint of hope for more serious cases too. Of five patients with lower respiratory infection, four turned negative by day 6, three of them on both drugs.

In the meantime, scientists said larger, more rigorous studies must be launched to answer questions of efficacy, dosing, duration, and potential adverse drug interactions — for this and other COVID treatments.  

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10 minutes ago, CTM said:

Haven't been following treatments at all, but apparently someone local was saved by hydroxychloroquine + Zithromax

 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/marybethpfeiffer/2020/03/22/one-patient-dodges-a-covid-bullet-is-she-a-harbinger-or-outlier/#2d9729ae5b84

 

This Coronavirus Patient Dodged A Bullet With Hydroxychloroquine. Is She A Harbinger Or Outlier?

 
Mary Beth PfeifferContributor
 
I am a fire-in-the-belly country journalist who found a scandal in my backyard and wrote a book on it. Government and medicine have systematically failed us on a spreading plague of ticks. And they know it.
  • Margaret Novins talked to me on her cellphone from a hospital bed at CentraState Medical Center in Freehold, N.J.

She had been ill since March 8, toughing it out through fatigue, a cough and fevers that brought on vicious chills for five evenings straight.

Finally, on March 15, she went to an urgent care center and, on March 16, to an emergency room. The attending there called it “conversational dyspnea.”

“I couldn’t breathe,” she said.

Today In: Healthcare

Novins, who shared her lab tests and medication list, got her diagnosis March 19. Next to the entry for SARS-CoV-2 were the words “Detected Critical.” She had the coronavirus, or COVID-19.

To that point, Novins had been a pneumonia patient for three days, treated mainly with antibiotics. But within an hour, a new drug was added to her med list: hydroxychloroquine, a decades-old malaria-turned-autoimmune drug, also called by its brand name Plaquenil. President Trump is touting the drug, some say overselling it, as the possible answer to the COVID-19 crisis.

 

Novins’ responded to the treatment. She was better, though surely not well, the next day.

The fever,” which was still spiking when she was on other meds, “is now gone, which is fantastic,” she said on Saturday March 21, coughing at times but able to speak.

A 53-year-old nurse who described herself as a nonsmoker with no medical issues, Novins spoke to me from the hospital that had cared for some of the seven members of a family ravaged by COVID; two adult brothers, a sister and their mother died from the infection.

“The doctor insisted the pharmacy get it to me the minute we got the positive,” she said of hydroxychloroquine. “It seemed like their go-to right away.”

Margaret Novins' COVID test came back positive. ″Detected Critical,″ the test said.

After three nights in the hospital, Margaret Novins' COVID test came back positive: "Detected ... [+]

 PROVIDED BY MARGARET NOVINS

There are other anecdotal successes like Novins’, including one in which end-of-life discussions for an older parent had been broached — until Plaquenil apparently kicked in. In that case, the family had to plead for, rather than being offered, the drug. 

Anecdotes are surely not science, which for now is limited and new.

Trump is basing his optimism mostly on one small study from Marseilles, France, that, combined with laboratory findings, has prompted ongoing trials in France and the United States. The just-released French study reported that 70 percent of hydroxychloroquine-treated patients, or 14 of 20, were negative for the virus at day 6, as were all six patients who were treated with hydroxychloroquine and the antibiotic azithromycin (which Novins also received). But the study was small – 20 treated patients and 16 controls – and had other serious limitations.

Of concern, six patients dropped out and were not considered in the reported efficacy rates. Three went to intensive care; one died; one left the hospital testing negative, and one opted out due to nausea.

Two scientists at major university centers reviewed the French trial for me. They agreed, separately, that while the study is preliminary, small, and not without flaws, its findings were strong enough, given the drugs’ known safety records, to guide treatment decisions in a crisis.

 “Despite the limitations of this study, in the absence of any effective treatment, in this urgent situation, this Plaquenil and Azithromycin combination therapy should be given to patients with COVID-19 as a treatment option,” Ying Zhang, a professor of microbiology at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, wrote in an email. “For now, there is no time to wait.”

Working against the study, in Zhang’s view: It was not a randomized trial, which would avoid bias; the sample size was small, and the treatment and followup duration was too short. The findings are nonetheless “potentially interesting and justified,” he wrote.

Brian Fallon, a research scientist and clinical trials investigator at the Columbia University Irving Medical Center, agreed on the study’s overall merit despite the patients who dropped out. After analyzing the data and counting all six dropouts as treatment failures, he said the overall rate of improvement was still statistically significant for the entire group, though not for the hydroxychloroquine group alone.

He too had reservations, in particular that the combination therapy group was very small, six patients, and that high doses of the two drugs together carry “serious risk of cardiac arrhythmias.” Physicians must be warned of this, he suggested.  

Nonetheless, he wrote in an email, “Given the life and death situation of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 and the possibility that hydroxychloroquine plus azithromycin may be helpful, it was valuable and ethical for the authors to report these promising, preliminary results.”

Others agreed. Lorraine Johnson, who has published on the use of collected data to improve health care outcomes, said, “It is important right now to take the gloves off clinicians and give them access to all available tools; patients are dying and can’t wait for clinical trials.”

At the same time, she and Zhang, who has published on treatments for difficult infections like tuberculosis and Lyme disease, said a database should be set up to track patients, like Margaret Novins, in order to document drug performance. “I would recommend real-time online posting of treatment evaluation results of the Plaquenil+Azithromycin at multi-center sites across the US and the Globe,” Zhang wrote. “Someone has to coordinate this online registry and resources.” He added that other treatments should be included.

Supply issues raised

In a 1982 drug bulletin, the FDA encouraged so-called off-label use of approved drugs: “Valid new uses for drugs already on the market are often first discovered through serendipitous observations and therapeutic innovations, subsequently confirmed by well-planned and executed clinical investigations.” 

In the real world, however, a rush to put a relatively safe approved drug to a vastly expanded new use may reduce supplies for others who need it, including lupus, rheumatoid arthritis and Lyme disease sufferers.

Kenneth Farber, president of the Lupus Research Alliance, said there were shortages of Plaquenil throughout the United States and especially in New York and California. 

Asked about supplies, a spokesperson for CVS Health, T.J. Crawford, said the drug-store chain has an “adequate supply on-hand” of hydroxychloroquine but supply of a related drug, chloroquine, “is tight across the marketplace.”

Jane Marke, a New York City psychiatrist who takes Plaquenil for Lyme disease, said she had trouble getting her prescription filled at several city chains. After reading the French study, she understands why. “It is really possible that this is a major breakthrough,” she said, envisioning a time when a good test could pick up early infections and the drug would stop the epidemic in its tracks.

In that vein, the University of Minnesota is organizing a trial to treat 1,500 people with hydroxychloroquine who were exposed to the virus from infected family members or as healthcare workers but are not yet ill. The study relied on laboratory experiments in China that found hydroxychloroquine inhibited the infection.

“If effective, this may become a worldwide standard of care for helping prevent disease in other healthcare workers and people exposed,” Dr. David Boulware, a U of M professor of medicine, said in announcing the study.

A key advantage of an off-patent generic drug like hydroxychloroquine: “A five-day treatment course would cost approximately $12,” Boulware said.

Novins, meantime, is expecting to leave the hospital in a day or two. As a nurse for a medical equipment company, she believes she contracted the infection not from a patient but while conducting a day-long training session.

Nonetheless, she said in a text, “I feel fortunate.”

“From my notes it is clear that my fevers and horrible chills I fought hard from 3/8-3/18 turned the corner the day I started Plaquenil 3/19,” she wrote.

While she said COVID is a “violent illness,” Novins never was in intensive care or on a respirator. The French study offers a mere glint of hope for more serious cases too. Of five patients with lower respiratory infection, four turned negative by day 6, three of them on both drugs.

In the meantime, scientists said larger, more rigorous studies must be launched to answer questions of efficacy, dosing, duration, and potential adverse drug interactions — for this and other COVID treatments.  

Through no political motivation, I hope this can become a trend. We all should. Thank you for this. 

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1 minute ago, Scott Dierking said:

Through no political motivation, I hope this can become a trend. We all should. Thank you for this. 

Lets pray/hope/wish whatever your predilection is that this works.. It's already gone through human safety trials and treatment per above is $12

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Anyone else here in the Construction industry? I am. According to the executive order issued by Governor Cuomo we fall into the essential category. 
I am working on a project in Suffolk County. I have conflicting thoughts on going in tomorrow. On one hand I am grateful to still be earning a paycheck while many others are not. In some cases depending on how long this last- the results of this will be catastrophic and send a lot of families into a complete financial crisis and many could potentially lose their homes or worse. 
 

The other part of me is obviously concerned as I am in the at risk category with an auto immune disorder. I am far more concerned however about my 11 year old daughter who is also at risk with reactive airway disease. I will of course protect myself as much as possible with a mask and gloves. 
 

Just curious to see how many others are in my field ( or any other essential business ) and their thoughts.

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3 minutes ago, Gibby said:

Anyone else here in the Construction industry? I am. According to the executive order issued by Governor Cuomo we fall into the essential category. 
I am working on a project in Suffolk County. I have conflicting thoughts on going in tomorrow. On one hand I am grateful to still be earning a paycheck while many others are not. In some cases depending on how long this last- the results of this will be catastrophic and send a lot of families into a complete financial crisis and many could potentially lose their homes or worse. 
 

The other part of me is obviously concerned as I am in the at risk category with an auto immune disorder. I am far more concerned however about my 11 year old daughter who is also at risk with reactive airway disease. I will of course protect myself as much as possible with a mask and gloves. 
 

Just curious to see how many others are in my field ( or any other essential business ) and their thoughts.

I don't care what your line of work is (unless it is essential to the wellness of others or national safety)) you should not have to report to work if you do not feel safe or fear reprisal.

If your employer does not understand that, you may be working for the wrong employer. Do what is best for you in order to have peace of mind and health.

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18 minutes ago, T0mShane said:

We always say this—“they all suck”—and it lowers the bar for all of them. Some suck way more than others. Call it like it is. It’s lazy nihilism to say “they all suck equally” when that’s simply not the case, and it just makes it easier to get more of the sh*t ones. 

 

There has been a difference. I'm not and have never been a Cuomo guy. But goddam these seemingly daily briefings are reassuring - informative, direct, honest, assuming responsibility and even has a bit of humor. This is leadership.

I don't even live in the state anymore but I watch these regularly for information and an honest assessment of the situation. 

Compare that with the daily briefings @ the Federal level?... 

Not even close. 

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13 minutes ago, Gibby said:

Anyone else here in the Construction industry? I am. According to the executive order issued by Governor Cuomo we fall into the essential category. 
I am working on a project in Suffolk County. I have conflicting thoughts on going in tomorrow. On one hand I am grateful to still be earning a paycheck while many others are not. In some cases depending on how long this last- the results of this will be catastrophic and send a lot of families into a complete financial crisis and many could potentially lose their homes or worse. 
 

The other part of me is obviously concerned as I am in the at risk category with an auto immune disorder. I am far more concerned however about my 11 year old daughter who is also at risk with reactive airway disease. I will of course protect myself as much as possible with a mask and gloves. 
 

Just curious to see how many others are in my field ( or any other essential business ) and their thoughts.

Yea you need to let whomever you work for know immediately of your situation and you should not continue to work.

Times will get rough financially most likely for you, but goddam that's better than your daughter losing you or vice versa. 

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4 minutes ago, Scott Dierking said:

I don't care what your line of work is (unless it is essential to the wellness of others or national safety)) you should not have to report to work if you do not feel safe or fear reprisal.

If your employer does not understand that, you may be working for the wrong employer. Do what is best for you in order to have peace of mind and health.

That’s why I’m so conflicted. If I don’t push on and continue working ( which btw- I didn’t mention they’re NOT forcing anyone - I will wind up on “ the secret sh*t list” and inevitably laid off when the economy crashes ( and it will ) and still be out of a job and unable to find another job due to the financial crisis. I almost feel screwed either way- but only one of the scenarios puts my family at risk from a health standpoint.

I wake each morning thinking ( as I am sure we all do-) that this is a bad dream.

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2 minutes ago, RedBeardedSavage said:

 

There has been a difference. I'm not and have never been a Cuomo guy. But goddam these seemingly daily briefings are reassuring - informative, direct, honest, assuming responsibility and even has a bit of humor. This is leadership.

I don't even live in the state anymore but I watch these regularly for information and an honest assessment of the situation. 

Compare that with the daily briefings @ the Federal level?... 

Not even close. 

I’m not sure how anyone watched the briefings and the direct actions in states like NY and Ohio versus the sh*tshow coming out of DC and says “all these people are operating at the same level of competence and integrity.” It’s absurd. 

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2 minutes ago, RedBeardedSavage said:

Yea you need to let whomever you work for know immediately of your situation and you should not continue to work.

Times will get rough financially most likely for you, but goddam that's better than your daughter losing you or vice versa. 

I actually did them them know. As I just posted ( and neglected to mention in my original post )- they’re not forcing me.

I just have a lot of conflicting thoughts on how to address it.

thanks for your response. ?

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3 minutes ago, T0mShane said:

I’m not sure how anyone watched the briefings and the direct actions in states like NY and Ohio versus the sh*tshow coming out of DC and says “all these people are operating at the same level of competence and integrity.” It’s absurd. 

Where's Biden?

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4 minutes ago, Gibby said:

That’s why I’m so conflicted. If I don’t push on and continue working ( which btw- I didn’t mention they’re NOT forcing anyone - I will wind up on “ the secret sh*t list” and inevitably laid off when the economy crashes ( and it will ) and still be out of a job and unable to find another job due to the financial crisis. I almost feel screwed either way- but only one of the scenarios puts my family at risk from a health standpoint.

I wake each morning thinking ( as I am sure we all do-) that this is a bad dream.

Not telling you what to do, as this is a personal decision, but you can always get another job. What you can't take for granted is your personal health, and your family's health. 

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28 minutes ago, T0mShane said:

We always say this—“they all suck”—and it lowers the bar for all of them. Some suck way more than others. Call it like it is. It’s lazy nihilism to say “they all suck equally” when that’s simply not the case, and it just makes it easier to get more of the sh*t ones. 

Based on what criteria?  Yours? Mine? PACs? 

And the problem with the "your dude/dudette sucks worse than mine" position is it encourages people to turn a blind eye to thier teams dude/dudette

If anything inconsistent application of criteria is what lowers the bar for all of them. How many R's howled about Obama's executive over reach only to ignore Trump? How many anti war D's turned a blind eye to Obama dropping a bomb in the middle east every 20 seconds for 8 years?

How about we demand better of all of them and quit it it with the team play.

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8 minutes ago, T0mShane said:

I’m not sure how anyone watched the briefings and the direct actions in states like NY and Ohio versus the sh*tshow coming out of DC and says “all these people are operating at the same level of competence and integrity.” It’s absurd. 

Well cause I watched  de Blasio and Cuomo 9 days  ago refuse to shutdown Broadway and take other measures and now they have the epicenter of the virus on thier hands. This required localized action, not federal 

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1 minute ago, Scott Dierking said:

Not telling you what to do, as this is a personal decision, but you can always get another job. What you can't take for granted is your personal health, and your family's health. 

That’s just it. My feeling is I may not be able to just run out and get another job... It’s quite possible the collateral damage of this ( from an economic standpoint) could prevent that. I get that health comes first and rightfully so- I also need to provide for them all too.

I know my situation isn’t all unique given the current climate of the country at the moment- I was just kind of curious to see if anyone else here is in an “essential “ line of work and are forced to make a decision as opposed to the majority of the population who didn’t get a choice.

thank you for the response.

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4 minutes ago, CTM said:

Based on what criteria?  Yours? Mine? PACs? 

And the problem with the "your dude/dudette sucks worse than mine" position is it encourages people to turn a blind eye to thier teams dude/dudette

If anything inconsistent application of criteria is what lowers the bar for all of them. How many R's howled about Obama's executive over reach only to ignore Trump? How many anti war D's turned a blind eye to Obama dropping a bomb in the middle east every 20 seconds for 8 years?

How about we demand better of all of them and quit it it with the team play.

You can a should demand better of all of them. That doesn’t make all of them the same person. Throwing your hands up because you have some philosophical ideal of what your magical politician should be, is impractical. It’s how you end up donating to Jill Stein. 

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