Month: December 2020

While Christmas should be a joyful time, loneliness and depression may be worsened for many, especially if COVID-19 restrictions prevent normal social interaction. Then there is a surge in deaths attributed to COVID-19.

One couple reportedly got infected in Tucson despite assiduous adherence to isolation measures. The wife died; the husband is slowly recovering. About 66 percent of infected New Yorkers say they had been following lockdown rules.

How does this happen? One possibility is orofecal transmission. The virus is known to survive in the stool. It could be aerosolized by flushing toilets and be disseminated by ventilation systems. It has been isolated from restroom exhaust fans. In one study of environmental contamination, the air sampler had to be quarantined twice despite wearing full protective gear. Measures that may help include closing the lid when flushing if possible and/or disinfecting with bleach. Air purification devices that include ultraviolet light are worth considering. Let in fresh outside air as much as possible.

How can we identify persons most likely to be infected—both for isolation and early treatment? The most sensitive early sign is probably not fever but loss of the sense of smell. Standardized screening tests are being developed, and “scratch and sniff” olfactory (smell) tests are available on line.

Complete protection from exposure is not possible. Everyone needs to pay attention to maintaining a strong immune system. Adequate vitamin D levels are critical. Most people, especially dark-skinned people, are deficient, cannot get enough sun exposure, and thus need supplementation.

Vaccines approved rapidly under an Emergency Use Authorization are just now being distributed, but a second dose is needed. The vaccine has not been shown to prevent transmission of illness but only to decrease symptoms, and it may not be effective against the new strains now being reported.

Despite infection control measures and vaccines, early treatment, for example with ivermectin, hydroxychloroquine, steroids, antibiotics, vitamins, and/or other measures, is a critical pillar of protection.

Be vigilant and proactive, rather than fearful. Share an extra gesture of kindness, along with helpful advice.

Physicians for Civil Defense provides information to help save lives in the event of natural or man-made disasters.

At a Dec 8 hearing, the U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee heard testimony about currently available, safe, and affordable treatments for both prophylaxis and treatment for COVID-19, reports Physicians for Civil Defense. The primary focus was on the anti-parasitic drug ivermectin.

Nearly 4 billion doses of ivermectin have been used worldwide, said critical care specialist Jean-Jacques Rajter of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., mostly to control serious parasitic diseases in Africa. It was serendipitously found to benefit nursing home patients exposed to COVID, who were being treated for scabies. A meta-analysis of 21 studies has shown ivermectin to be beneficial in early disease, late disease, and both pre-exposure and post-exposure prophylaxis.

Dr. Rajter said that as yet no major large-scale randomized controlled trials have been completed, because it has been extremely difficult to obtain funding. Dr. Pierre Kory of St Luke’s Aurora Medical Center stated: “Seemingly the only research and treatment focus that we have observed on a national scale is with novel or high-cost pharmaceutically engineered products such as remdesivir, monoclonal antibodies, tocilizumab, with all such therapies costing thousands of dollars.”

Dr. Kory noted that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has not updated its Aug 27 guideline that recommends against using ivermectin in COVID-19 outside a clinical trial—despite consistent, large benefits. Meanwhile, “people are dying at unacceptable and untold rates.”

Dr. Kory noted that it is difficult to disseminate information to the American public. All his attempts have been censored on social media. Graphical data and 88 references were supplied to the Committee and are publicly available with his written testimony. Dr. Kory also presented at a press conference in Houston.

 Democrats boycotted the hearing except for an opening statement by ranking member Sen. Gary Peters (D-Mich.), who accused witnesses of “attacking science” before any said a word, and then left.

The federal response to this deadly disease, which she described as “therapeutic nihilism,” is “shocking and unprecedented,” stated Physicians for Civil Defense president Jane M. Orient, M.D.