Vaccines are still working; the anti-science brigade marches on, and we're on our own now that mandates are dropping
New data show that ivermectin fails to prevent severe COVID-19, and a study found ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine prescriptions went up in red counties after scientists said the drugs don't work
Evidence is accumulating that many people have durable protection against COVID-19 from the three-dose regimen of either the Pfizer or Moderna mRNA vaccines. A report in the New York Times goes through the immunology research that explains why additional booster shots may be unlikely.
The New York Times reports that experts disagree on whether the CDC should publish more of the COVID-19 data that it collects.
The C.D.C. Isn’t Publishing Large Portions of the Covid Data It Collects - The New York Times (nytimes.com)
The United Kingdom is ending COVID-19 restrictions and isolation rules this week, and free testing ends April 1. Business organizations say the “Living with COVID” plan unfairly shifts testing costs to private business.
The rush to drop mask requirements, vaccine verification, isolation rules and testing across the USA appears to be a reaction to pandemic fatigue and the perception that COVID-19 is no longer a serious public health emergency. Unfortunately, COVID-19 deaths continue to mount.
Remember the horse dewormer Ivermectin as a purported COVID-19 cure? It was touted in a since-withdrawn December 2020 medical journal article, various media outlets and on social media. Now, we have data from a large, randomized study in Malaysia that shows ivermectin doesn’t work against COVID-19. The study included 490 high-risk patients who were 50 or older with confirmed COVID-19 infection. Among 241 patients treated with ivermectin plus standard therapy, 52 progressed to severe disease. Among 249 patients who were treated with standard of care alone, 43 progressed to severe disease. The ivermectin group also reported diarrhea as a side effect at a rate 3x higher than the non-ivermectin group. While this doesn’t end the debate, it is solid scientific research on whether the popular drug helps against Covid.
Chee Loon Lim, S., Peng Hor, C., Heng Tay, K., Mat Jelani, A., Hao Tan, W., Bee Ker, H., Soo Chow, T., Zaid, M., Kooi Cheah, W., Hua Lim, H., Erwan Khalid, K., Thye Cheng, J., An, N., Bahari Nasruddin, A., Lee Low, L., Weng Ryan Khoo, S., Hui Loh, J., Zaila Zaidan, N., Ab Wahab, S., … Peariasamy, K. M. (2022). Efficacy of Ivermectin Treatment on Disease Progression Among Adults With Mild to Moderate COVID-19 and Comorbidities The I-TECH Randomized Clinical Trial. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamainternmed.2022.0189
But data like this won’t stop people from promoting false hopes. Medpage Today published a report on a group that claims to publish protocols and best practices for COVID-19 treatment. Ivermectin is their top recommendation.
Do you think politics has a role in some of this? A robust statistical study that analyzed COVID-19 treatment patterns with county-level presidential voting patterns found that Trump-majority counties also had higher volumes of hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin prescriptions after the FDA and other public health authorities declared each drug inappropriate for COVID-19. “Because political affiliation should not be a factor in clinical treatment decisions, our findings raise concerns for public trust in a nonpartisan health care system,” say the researchers in JAMA Internal Medicine.
Association of County-Level Prescriptions for Hydroxychloroquine and Ivermectin With County-Level Political Voting Patterns in the 2020 US Presidential Election. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamainternmed.2022.0200
Not a COVID-19 story but significant:
Public health pioneer Dr. Paul Farmer died Monday. He was 62. Founder of Partners in Health, Farmer was one of the strongest advocates of global health and improving the health of the poorest nations. Here are just a few articles about his impact:
Paul Farmer, American physician and global health care pioneer, dies at 62 - CBS News
Dr. Paul Farmer, global health giant, dies at 62 - CNN
Paul Farmer, co-founder of Partners in Health, dies at 62 - STAT (statnews.com)
Remembering Dr. Paul Farmer | Partners In Health (pih.org)
Trustee Emeritus Paul Farmer, a Global Health Pioneer, Dies at Age 62 | Duke Today