Coronavirus Archives - MyMedicPlus

Essential Science: Obesity, coronavirus and overall health

mymedicplus — Wed, 11 Nov 2020 07:25:13 +0000

Source- http://www.digitaljournal.com/

A raft of new reports have been issued about obesity and ill-health effects. Included within these reports are on-going concerns about obese people and a greater chance of developing more severe COVID-19 symptoms.

Obesity continues to a major problem worldwide and it is associated with a range of metabolic disorders. Definitions of obesity vary, although it is generally accepted that obesity refers to the condition where excess body fat accumulates to an extent that it may have a negative effect on health.

There are different causes of obesity and the condition is not only linked to poor diet and insufficient exercise (such as eating excessive amounts of cheap high-calorie food and spending a lot of time sitting down at desk), for there are genetic issues to consider as well.

According to the University of Virginia there are differences in fat storage and formation between men and women, and this is influenced by different genes found in fat tissue. Furthermore, some of those genes identified are connected with conditions like type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

The reason for highlighting the genetic basis is to indicate that the causes of obesity and strategies of address obesity are more complicated than sometimes portrayed. This does not negate the danger surrounding obesity, as three new strands of research show, including one of topical interest in relation to the coronavirus pandemic.

Nutrition and childhood development

Part of the new sets of data relating to obesity and nutrition includes a study which looks at the impact upon children. Taking a longitudinal look, a new analysis considers height and weight of school-aged children and adolescents across the world.

That diet is important matches other research, albeit from a different perspective, such as one study that finds that a healthy quality Mediterranean-like diet partially modifies the association between obesity and cardiovascular mortality.

This study, which comes from Imperial College London, draws upon health information and other metrics relating to 65 million children. The children were aged between five to 19 years old, and the findings are collected from 193 countries.

This analysis shows that school-aged children’s’ height and weight, serving as indicators of their health and quality of their diet, vary enormously around the world. The analysis reveals a 20 centimeter difference between 19-year-olds in the tallest and shortest nations. The key variable is with childhood nutrition, including a lack of quality food. This important factor is associated with stunted growth and a rise in childhood obesity.

It also follows that the lifestyle of women with obesity during pregnancy can lead to long-term cardiovascular benefits for their children. If exercise is not regularly performed, the reverse can occur and children from obese mothers carry a risk of being less healthy and also becoming prone to developing obesity themselves.

Walter Siegmund (CC BY-SA 3.0)

The findings appear in the medical journal The Lancet, titled “Height and body-mass index trajectories of school-aged children and adolescents from 1985 to 2019 in 200 countries and territories: a pooled analysis of 2181 population-based studies with 65 million participants.”

At the other end of the age scale, severely overweight people are less likely to be able to re-wire their brains and find new neural pathways. This is something of importance in relation to stroke recovery. This finding appears in the journal Brain Science (“Obesity is Associated with Reduced Plasticity of the Human Motor Cortex”).

Too much sugar

A related area of research is linked to sugar in the diet. A study, looking at an animal model, has discovered that mice fed diets high in sugar developed worse forms of colitis than mice fed a standard diet.

Colitis is a form of inflammatory bowel disease. To explore the effects further, the researchers from UT Southwestern Medical Center examined the large intestines of the mice and discovered more of the bacteria that can damage the gut’s protective mucus layer to be present.

Importantly, the study pointed to sugar, such as the type of glucose found in high fructose corn syrup (used by parts of the food industry since the 1960s0 as the mist significant contributor to the effects.

The researchers have indicated that effect seen with mice can be extrapolated to humans, and this should act as some form of warning for a diet too rich in sugar.

The research is published in the journal Science Translational Medicine, titled “Dietary simple sugars alter microbial ecology in the gut and promote colitis in mice.”

Obesity and coronavirus risk

An individual’s health is important when considering coronavirus risk. A new study finds that factors inherent to obesity could increase vulnerability to COVID-19. Correlations in many countries exist between obesity and COVID-19 deaths.

In particular, inflammation in the lungs, when combined with high viral loads of the coronavirus, appears to create ‘a perfect storm’ for obese patients with COVID-19. Fat has high amounts of ACE2 receptors. These receptors serve as the entryways for the SARS-CoV-2 virus into the cells of the lungs.

Another concern is with the higher overall inflammatory state that accompanies obesity, and which primes many tissues to show a poor response to infection.

The outcome from the research is that medications used to lower inflammation in the lungs are beneficial to obese patients who have coronavirus. This may lead to a new medical intervention.

The research appears in eLife, titled “Obesity and diabetes as comorbidities for COVID-19: Underlying mechanisms and the role of viral–bacterial interactions.”

Essential Science

This article forms part of Digital Journal’s long-running Essential Science series, where new research relating to wider science stories of interest are presented on a weekly basis.

Last week we focused on coronavirus, considering why scientists are concenred over the issue of why some people become sicker than others when infected with the coronavirus. The answers may lie in with vitamin D levels.

The week before, our topic was global heating. We learned that as climate change continues to cause the average temperature around the planet to rise, staying cooler in what are increasingly set to be long, dry, and hot summers is a challenge that humanity needs to face. We examined three solutions for keeping cooler.

The post Essential Science: Obesity, coronavirus and overall health appeared first on MyMedicPlus.

Doctors preserve fertility while treating ovarian cancer; does coronavirus affect fertility?

mymedicplus — Wed, 11 Nov 2020 06:59:49 +0000

Source – https://www.local10.com/

PEMBROKE PINES, Fla. – While ovarian cancer is rare in women of childbearing age, when it happens, it can create fears about a woman’s future fertility.

In an effort to preserve the ability to conceive, more doctors are performing fertility sparing procedures in cases of borderline ovarian tumors, one-third of which affect women under the age of 40.

“In instances where these are diagnosed, there’s a possibility to remove only one ovary while leaving in the other ovary and fallopian tube, as well as the uterus to maintain fertility in these patients,” said Dr. Jonathan Black, with The Center of Gynecologic Oncology in Pembroke Pines.

Black said studies have shown a 99% chance of survival, even with a cancer recurrence in the remaining ovary for women who undergo fertility sparing surgery.

Also in today’s health news, a University of Miami study found that the coronavirus may affect male fertility.

Researchers found the virus present in both living men previously infected with COVID-19, as well as six men who died from the virus.

“What was most surprising about our study was that we found the virus in the testes of a man who was previously infected and now recovered and was asymptomatic,” said Dr. Ranjith Ramasamy, the study lead author with the UHealth-Miller School of Medicine.

Investigators said it makes sense that the testes are a target for infection because the virus is drawn to receptors in many of the body’s organs, including the lungs, heart, intestines, kidneys and testicles.

Questions still remain about whether the virus can be sexually transmitted and the exact impact on fertility.

The post Doctors preserve fertility while treating ovarian cancer; does coronavirus affect fertility? appeared first on MyMedicPlus.

Can UV Light Kill the New Coronavirus?

mymedicplus — Fri, 23 Oct 2020 05:09:40 +0000

Source – https://www.healthline.com/

Ultraviolet (UV) light is a type of radiation. It has more energy than radio waves or visible light but less energy than X-rays or gamma rays.

You can be exposed to UV light via natural sunlight or through human-made sources like tanning beds.

UV light has been used as a means to kill germs like bacteria and viruses. You may have also heard of its use for killing SARS-CoV-2, the new coronavirus that causes COVID-19.

In this article, we’ll explore how UV light is used to kill germs, how effective it is at eliminating the new coronavirus, and more.

Can UV light kill germs?

There are several types of UV light. They’re classified according to how much energy they have.

Types of UV light

UVA light has the lowest amount of energy. When you’re out in the sun, you’re mainly being exposed to UVA light. Exposure to UVA light has been linked to skin aging and damage.
UVB light sits in the middle of the UV light spectrum. A small portion of sunlight contains UVB light. It’s the main type of UV light that contributes to sunburns and causes most skin cancers.
UVC light has the most energy. UVC light from the sun is mostly absorbed in the Earth’s ozone, so you’re not normally exposed to it on a daily basis. However, there are various human-made sources of UVC light.

UVC light is the type of UV light that’s most effective at killing germs. It can be used to disinfect surfaces, air, and liquids.

UVC light kills germs like viruses and bacteria through damaging molecules like nucleic acids and proteins. This makes the germ incapable of performing the processes that it needs to survive.

What’s known about UVC light and the new coronavirus?

UVC light can be used to kill the new coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2. Let’s look at what the research has discovered about UVC light and this coronavirus so far.

UVC light for disinfecting liquids

A recent study in the American Journal of Infection Control (AJIC) investigated using UVC light to kill large amounts of the new coronavirus in liquid cultures.

The study found that UVC light exposure completely inactivated the virus in 9 minutes.

UVC light for disinfecting surfaces

Another study, also published in the AJIC, looked at using a specific type of UVC light to kill SARS-CoV-2 on laboratory surfaces. The study found that the UVC light reduced the live coronavirus by 99.7 percent in 30 seconds.

The type of UVC light used in this study is called far-UVC light, which is UVC light between the wavelengths of 207 and 222 nanometersTrusted Source.

Far-UVC light is still damaging to germs but is less of a hazard to your skin and eyes than other types of UVC light.

UVC light for disinfecting air

One studyTrusted Source, published in the journal Scientific Reports, explored using far-UVC light to kill two types of human coronaviruses in the air. These two coronaviruses, 229E and OC43, can cause the common cold in humans.

Based off their results with these viruses, researchers estimated that, when applied to current regulatory standards, far-UVC light could kill 99.9 percent of airborne coronaviruses in about 25 minutes. They believe that these findings would extend to SARS-CoV-2 as well.

SUMMARY
UVC light can effectively kill SARS-CoV-2 or other coronaviruses in liquids, on surfaces, or in the air. Due to the fact that it presents less of a health hazard, far-UVC may be a good option for disinfection.

How is UVC light currently used to kill the new coronavirus?

Because it can effectively inactivate the new coronavirus without using chemicals, UVC light is an attractive option for disinfection. Special lamps that emit UVC light are typically used for this purpose.

Currently, the use of UVC light for disinfection is mostly limited to healthcare settings to disinfect things like:

surfaces
equipment
operating rooms
personal protective equipment (PPE), such as N95 face masks

What are the downsides to UVC light?

One of the downsides to UVC light is that it needs direct contact to be helpful. That means that if an area is in shadow or covered by dust, UVC light will be less effective at killing germs that may be present.

While UVC light can quickly kill SARS-CoV-2, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)Trusted Source notes some additional risks for using it at home:

The optimal length of exposure, wavelength, and dose of UVC light for killing SARS-CoV-2 is yet to be determined.
Exposure to some types of UVC light can damage your skin or eyes.
The types of UVC light lamps sold for at-home use are often lower in intensity. That means it may take a longer time to kill germs.
UVC light lamps can potentially contain mercury or produce ozone, both of which can be harmful to humans.
It’s possible that prolonged exposure to UVC light can cause materials like textiles, plastics, or polymers to degrade.

Far-UVC light may be a potentially safer option for disinfection. ResearchTrusted Source has indicated that, unlike other types of UVC light, it doesn’t appear to penetrate the outer layers of the skin or eye. However, further safety studies are needed.

Innovation in disinfection

Various companies are developing innovative technologies for UVC light disinfection. These focus on automation of the disinfection process using robots.

One example is the LightStrike robotTrusted Source, which can kill 99.99 percent of SARS-CoV-2 viral particles in 2 minutes. In the future, it’s possible that robots like this could be used for disinfection of hospital rooms, hotel rooms, and airplanes.

Myths regarding the use of UV light and temperature

You may have heard about some methods to kill the new coronavirus using UV light or high temperatures.

Let’s take a closer look at some popular myths and why they could be potentially dangerous, as well as the safest known ways to prevent COVID-19.

Myth #1: Sun exposure can protect you from COVID-19

While sunlight does contain UV light, it’s mostly UVA and UVB light. These types of UV light are less effective at killing SARS-CoV-2.

Perhaps more importantly, prolonged exposure can also lead to skin damage, sunburn, or even skin cancer.

Myth #2: Using a UV lamp on your body can protect you from COVID-19

While a UV lamp may be used to disinfect surfaces, avoid using one to kill the new coronavirus on your hands or other parts of your body.

Remember, most types of UV light can be harmful to people. Exposure can result in skin irritation, damage, or burns.

Myth #3: Sitting in a hot bath can prevent COVID-19

This method won’t prevent you from becoming ill with COVID-19. In fact, your body temperature will remain pretty much the same in a hot bath.

Additionally, sitting in a very hot bath can actually harm you by causing burning or scalding.

Myth #4: The hot air from a hand dryer can kill the virus on your hands

While the air emitted from a hand dryer is warm, it won’t kill SARS-CoV-2 on your hands.

The best way to eliminate the virus from your hands is by thoroughly washing your hands with soap and water or using an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.

Fact: There are several safe ways to prevent getting COVID-19

To prevent becoming ill with COVID-19, take the following steps:

Try to stay home as much as possible. If you must go out, practice physical distancing (maintaining 6 feet of distance from others), wear a face covering, and avoid large gatherings.
Wash your hands frequently using soap and warm water or use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer. Avoid touching your face, nose, or mouth if your hands aren’t clean.
Regularly disinfect high-touch surfaces in your home, such as doorknobs, appliance handles, and countertops. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has a list of products that are effective at killing SARS-CoV-2.
Avoid being around people who are sick. Similarly, stay home if you’re ill.

The bottom line

The type of UV light that’s most effective at killing germs, like viruses and bacteria, is UVC light.

UVC light can effectively kill SARS-CoV-2, the new coronavirus that causes COVID-19. Much of the research on this topic focuses on far-UVC light. This is a type of UVC light that still kills germs but is less harmful to humans.

UVC light is mainly used for disinfection in healthcare settings. While you can buy a UVC light lamp for your home, remember that these lamps are often lower in intensity.

Also, the optimal length of exposure, wavelength, and dose of UVC light needed for killing the new coronavirus is yet to be determined.

Last medically reviewed on October 22, 2020

12 sourcescollapsed

The post Can UV Light Kill the New Coronavirus? appeared first on MyMedicPlus.

Patients developing diabetes post coronavirus recovery a growing concern

mymedicplus — Thu, 15 Oct 2020 05:51:15 +0000

Source – https://www.newindianexpress.com/

14 out of 630 patents, with no history of diabetes during COVID-19 treatment, were diagnosed with diabetes at follow up clinics.

CHENNAI: Newly found diabetes among COVID-19 recovered patients is becoming a serious health condition, observed doctors in Chennai. Out of the 630 people who visited the post-COVID follow up clinic at the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital, doctors said 14 people were diagnosed with diabetes.

This phenomenon has been observed worldwide lately by experts, who are trying to understand whether and how COVID-19 might be triggering diabetes among those who didn’t have the disease before. A senior doctor in-charge of the follow-up clinic said that none of the patients had diabetes during their stay at the hospital and it is only found weeks or even a month after their recovery.

“While most people who returned to the hospital with poor health conditions were aged above 45, the people with newly found diabetes post-recovery were just aged between 40-45,” the doctor said.

The doctor said that while breathing issues and myalgia (muscle pain) have been the common health condition that majority of people have come up with, the diabetes is something new. “Sugar checks are mandatory as part of COVID checks. Even for diabetes patients, insulin shots are given to keep sugar in check during treatment,” said that doctor, adding that the reason for people developing diabetes post-COVID recovery is not known.

The medico added that the patients are given insulin shots and are directed to undergo routine treatment for diabetes. Doctors said that the hospital keeps check of the patients’ health condition daily for 14 days after discharge and most patients returned back with health conditions after two weeks.

Steroids a possible reason?

Dr V Mohan, chairman, Dr Mohan’s Diabetes Specialities Centre, said high doses of steroids during the COVID-19 treatment could be a reason for sugar levels going up post-discharge. “Initially, patients are given intravenous steroids and subsequently, it is reduced to oral doses before the doses are stopped. Sugar levels too are supposed to reduce after this but some people without any diabetes too show high sugar levels post discharge,” Dr Mohan said.

He said that it is unknown whether COVID -19is directly involved in the increase in sugar levels but steroids could possibly have an impact. Various studies globally have highlighted that the immunosuppressive tendencies of steroids facilities in sugar levels are going uncontrolled among patients.

Dr Subramanian Swaminathan, Infectious Diseases Specialist at Gleneagles Global Health City said this trend of patients developing diabetes is seen worldwide. “Whether COVID-19 has caused diabetes or unmasked diabetes, we don’t know yet,” he said.

Dr Swaminathan said that even patients with mild COVID are developing diabetes later on. “In such a scenario, we can’t say the medicine is solely responsible for causing diabetes. Maybe it just has some part to do with this,” he said. Dr Swaminathan added that chronic fatigue syndrome, intermittent fever and inflammatory syndrome are widely observed among patients post-recovery.

“Unless we follow up on more patients, we won’t know the exact reasons for health complications. It is a good initiative to have follow up clinics and we need to expand it,” he said.

The post Patients developing diabetes post coronavirus recovery a growing concern appeared first on MyMedicPlus.

COVID-19 poised to push global response to HIV/AIDS to the fringes

mymedicplus — Tue, 06 Oct 2020 10:06:31 +0000

Source – https://thestreetjournal.org/

With the increasing number of coronavirus cases and death toll at the global and national levels, the World Health Organisation and the Centres for Disease Control declared COVID-19 a global and national emergency. As the global health community looks to solve this crisis through the search for vaccines and drugs, is COVID-19 poised to push the global response to HIV/AIDS to the fringes? COVID-19 is fast gaining the status of exceptionality. Viral pandemics gain exceptionality when they receive an overwhelming global and national response, and one that is often privileged over other diseases until the pandemic becomes normalised or overtaken by other pandemics.

Disease normalisation can be achieved through different mechanisms but key among these is the availability of treatment or vaccines, but in the absence of a safe and approved Coronavirus vaccine or treatment at this time, we are not in any way close to normalising COVID-19. As the world suffers the devastating and catastrophic impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic, the global health community is channelling resources toward unravelling the many unknowns about this disease, especially in the search for vaccines and treatment.

In 2001, the United Nations General Assembly declared HIV/AIDS a global emergency that demanded utmost priority. The widespread transmission and lethality of HIV/AIDS led to an overwhelming public demand to channel research and funding to low-and middle-income countries, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, that were most hit. This exceptional focus on HIV/AIDS funding and research, however, averted resources for other diseases such as malaria and tuberculosis and, resulted to HIV/AIDS exceptionalism.

In all epidemiological ramifications, COVID-19 is a deadly viral pandemic that is set to wreck unprecedented impact on social, economic, and human development. Like HIV/AIDS, COVID-19’s lethality has gained the attention of the global health community, with research and public funding increasingly channeled toward preventive and treatment measures, especially, with global projections indicating that the worst is yet to come.

Still, the global HIV/AIDS epidemic is far from over for many countries in sub-Saharan Africa, where impact not only lingers, but where the numbers show that HIV/AIDs remain a dire epidemic. But as the global health community scrambles to curtail the Coronavirus, a COVID-19 exceptionality looms, and it is one that is poised to jeopardise, if not undermine, the global response to HIV/AIDS. HIV/AIDS may also be on the verge of losing its exceptional status like other infectious diseases that preceded it, if the Coronavirus pandemic is not quickly and effectively curtailed.

The United States, through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), is the world’s largest bilateral donor for HIV/AIDS. Although in 2018, the U.S. proposed a budget cut of US$1 billion for HIV/AIDS research and prevention, it remained at the forefront of the global HIV/AIDS response. But the current COVID-19 pandemic has made catastrophic and devastating impacts on global and national economies, with economists projecting a US$7trillion loss and the highest number of job loss since the great depression for the U.S. As the U.S. struggles to control the rising tide of COVID-19 within its shores, with mobility and labour restrictions and partial economic lockdowns in some states, even more economic downturns are expected. Despite the U.S. pledge to continue to support the global response to HIV/AIDS, the impact of COVID-19 on the scale of U.S. foreign assistance on HIV/AIDS remains to be seen as the country battles the Coronavirus domestically.

Even before COVID-19, global commitment to HIV/AIDS funding was already precarious and on the decline. The global health community was in a transition to shift the financial burden of HIV/AIDS mitigation efforts to countries, where the virus and disease remain endemic, with HIV/AIDS affected countries urged to take HIV/AIDS response as a domestic priority to ensure sustainability over time. Between 2015 and 2016, HIV/AIDS disbursements from multilateral organisations decreased by 22 per cent, from US$1.9 billion to US$1.5 billion; and between 2018 and 2019, donor governments’ HIV/AIDS disbursements declined from US$8 billion to US$7.8 billion. Since 2010, big donor governments like the United Kingdom, France, and Germany have significantly reduced their HIV/AIDS funding by more than US$1 billion due to the global financial crisis and other competing global and humanitarian crises.

With these countries, including the U.S., severely impacted by the Coronavirus pandemic, bilateral and multilateral funding for HIV/AIDS will further diminish, and the HIV/AIDS global response pushed to the fringes. Like HIV/AIDS, the international community might be moving toward a COVID-19 exceptionalism. A COVID-19 exceptionalism may be the tipping point for HIV/AIDS assistance to low – and middle-income countries, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, to decline at unprecedented levels. It is time for Africa to rise, and take ownership and control of its public health destiny.

Ese Basikoro, is a Research, Academic and International Development Consultant

The post COVID-19 poised to push global response to HIV/AIDS to the fringes appeared first on MyMedicPlus.

Medical experts question Massachusetts move to next step of reopening

mymedicplus — Mon, 05 Oct 2020 07:24:16 +0000

Source – https://www.sentinelandenterprise.com/

Many parts of Massachusetts are moving into a new phase of reopening Monday even as coronavirus metrics hit numbers that haven’t been seen since the height of the pandemic — leading medical experts to question Gov. Charlie Baker’s decision to forge ahead.

“We need to stay where we are and watch things carefully and keep our guard up,” Boston University infectious diseases specialist Davidson Hamer said. “I can’t read his mind, but I just wonder if he’s under a lot of pressure from businesses.”

All but 29 of the Bay State’s 351 cities and towns are allowed to move forward with step two of the third phase of reopening on Monday, which allows indoor performance venues, roller rinks and fitting rooms to reopen, places such as gyms and museums to increase their capacity and outdoor gathering limits to bump up to 100.

At the same time, the state’s coronavirus reproduction rate has climbed to its highest rate since the end of March, weekly case totals rose throughout September and new daily cases crossed 700 twice in the past week — a number not seen since the height of the pandemic.

Twenty-three communities landed in the state’s red zone for being at a high virus risk last week as well, the highest since the state switched to the color-coded risk assessment system in August. The seven-day average positive test rate has also ticked up over 1% again, after hitting a low of 0.8%.

“We’re at a point where caution and weekly reassessment is needed and if we make a mistake and things get out of control, we’ll have to go back to more draconian measures,” Hamer said.

Baker has repeatedly defended his decision to expand indoor dining and this week to increase capacity at retail and other establishments even as cases have started to rise, noting the state’s positive test rate has tumbled from 10% to around 1% for the past couple of months.

Contact tracing, he said, shows “the biggest concern” is “informal, no-rules, no-guidance gatherings” and not work.

“Some people are going to say we’re going too fast and some people are going to say we’re going too slow,” Baker said. But “we rethink the reopening pretty much every day.”

Dr. Irwin Redlener, head of the National Center for Disaster Preparedness at Columbia University, said there’s no cut-and-dried answer for governors, who have to play “3D chess” managing the at-times competing pressures of public health, the economy and the desire to get kids back to school.

“These are no easy answers to come by,” he said.

Dr. Todd Ellerin, director of infectious diseases at South Shore Health, said the uptick here is predictable with students returning to classrooms at all levels. But cases nationally and here in Massachusetts are “obviously going in the wrong direction.”

“I can’t fault the governor for pressing forward, although I have to say, this is a very tough time to do it,” Ellerin said. “I would feel more comfortable if this were the spring going into summer.”

The post Medical experts question Massachusetts move to next step of reopening appeared first on MyMedicPlus.

Is anxiety over coronavirus leading you to insomnia? Here’s what two local behavioral health consultants recommend

mymedicplus — Sat, 23 May 2020 17:11:37 +0000

source:- lancasteronline

From social distancing and school closures to quarantines and working from home, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused changes to daily routines for people of all ages. To make matters worse, you are having problems falling asleep or staying asleep at night.

You’re not alone, say Leslie Book and Alex Pineda, behavioral health consultants with the Lancaster Health Center.

“Experiencing an event of this magnitude has raised the levels of anxiety in people who are worried about different issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic, and even some that pre-dated this pandemic,” Pineda says.

Book agrees. “Even people who aren’t typically anxious are now saying that their minds are so busy that they can’t turn them off to go to sleep,” she says. “They wake up two hours later and are instantly thinking about the news or about their situation, and they just can’t shut it down.”

Physical and mental health

People with insomnia have greater levels of depression and anxiety than those who sleep normally. They are 10 times as likely to have clinical depression and 17 times as likely to have clinical anxiety.

“The more a person experiences insomnia and the more frequently they wake at night as a result, the higher the chances are of developing depression,” Book says. “However, it is not only mental health that suffers but also our physical health. Medical conditions may also be negatively affected.”

Sleep is a natural immune booster, so getting a good night’s sleep is one of the best ways we can improve our immunity and defend against viruses and disease.

How can someone manage insomnia when they can’t take their mind off COVID-19?

If you’re spending more time on your screens looking at news updates, reading COVID-19 advice, and staying connected to family and friends, it might become even more difficult to fall asleep because the blue light from screens tells your brain to stop producing the sleep hormone melatonin.

Try to get into a rhythm where it’s light during the day and dark at night, to help set your nighttime circadian rhythm.

“What a person can do is try to stop watching the news all together at least once a week, and not be on social media at least an hour before bedtime. Be very thoughtful about what you’re checking and why you’re checking it. At night, find a way to wind down,” Book says.

Too many sleepless nights can aggravate both physical and mental health problems. However, there are steps you can take to improve your sleep during this time. Book and Pineda suggest the following:

Stop watching the news and do not watch action or horror movies. Instead, stick with comedy, gardening or house shows at night.
Do not watch TV or use your phone in bed. A bed is for sleeping.
Light control: When you’re working during the day make sure that you have bright light. Open your shades, even if it’s cloudy out — especially when you first wake up in the morning. Then, an hour or two before bed start dimming the light as a way to tell your mind that it’s bedtime.
Temperature control: Most people sleep better in a cooler, well-ventilated room.
Drink warm milk or chamomile tea
Exercise during the day, but stay away from heavy exercise in the evening. Sleep can be improved by exercising moderately for 10 minutes twice a day.
Having a set routine before bedtime prepares the mind and body for sleep.
Practicing meditation, gratitude and yoga can help destress and prepare for sleep.
Turn off electronics at least one hour before going to bed.
Read. But, again, not news or exciting themes.
Add some white noise such as a fan to distract your mind or use a sleep app.
Avoid heavy meals and alcohol before sleep and limit caffeine intake, especially in the late afternoon and evening.
Stop checking the clock when waking up throughout the night.

While everyone has different sleep requirements, it is important to keep a regular sleep-wake schedule.

However, Book says, forcing sleep rarely works and can backfire.

“If you find yourself tossing and turning in bed for more than 20 minutes, it may be helpful to get up and do something relaxing in low light like reading, listening to music (not screen time), or drinking warm milk or chamomile tea. Giving yourself extra wind down time before bed may also help you get back into the rhythm,” she says.

The post Is anxiety over coronavirus leading you to insomnia? Here’s what two local behavioral health consultants recommend appeared first on MyMedicPlus.

Trump’s Response to Coronavirus Recalls Reagan Ignoring AIDS

mymedicplus — Mon, 02 Mar 2020 06:07:43 +0000

Source: advocate.com

“[The virus] … may have already spread to five continents (North America, South America, Europe, Africa, and Australia). In this period, between 100,000 and 300,000 people could have already been infected.”

“The virus has proliferated in parts of Asia, Europe, and the Middle East in recent days, with the death toll rising in Iran, infections in South Korea passing 1,200, and the first suspected case recorded in Latin America.”

Which statement is about AIDS and which is about the coronavirus?

There’s something out there. It’s dangerous and percolating, spreading, infecting, and frightening. Health officials are scrambling to figure out the root cause of the virus, how it is transmitted, how to stop the death toll from rising, and what populations can do to protect themselves from becoming sick. Isolation of the sick is suggested, with some of the recommendations discriminatory. Who is patient zero? The U.S. government initially drags its feet, the president is dismissive of it, and experts fear that health are professionals and the administration are not prepared to deal with the consequences.

Are we talking about the onset of the AIDS epidemic or the coronavirus?

For the record, the first quote is about AIDS, the second about the coronavirus.

With AIDS, the initial reports about the spread of a mysterious disease began in the early 1980s, and it proliferated quickly, fatally, but not at first indiscriminately. Misinformation and fear were the hallmarks of its ominous arrival in the United States. People who were suspected of being sick or, more harshly, gay people who were assumed to be carrying the disease were labeled like deadly pariahs. There were calls to quarantine those who were ill. It was decimating populations with its potency. Health care workers treating the mysterious illness donned hazmat uniforms, bodysuits, and masks.

We had a president and government that were disinterested, dismissive, and disoriented. Only after repeated warnings from health officials and activists did the Johnny-come-lately administration start to pay attention and take action, and in many cases and for many victims and their partners, families, and friends, it proved to be way too little and far too late.

Does this sound familiar or eerily reminiscent?

During his “everything is great” press conference this week about how the government will address the coronavirus, Donald Trump made the situation sound as if a few people have minor cases of a cold or flu and added alarming flashes of humor.

He went on to talk about how Democrats were ruining the stock market, the primary debates, and other nonsensical nothingness that had nothing to do with the somber issue at hand. When asked to explain the paltry $2.5 billion his administration is requesting to combat any outbreak of the coronavirus, he seemed to make a joke out of the whole thing, enlisting his childish terms of “Crazy” Nancy and “Crying” Chuck, belittling them for addressing this situation thoughtfully with their request of a robust and urgent $6.5 billion.

Then on Thursday, he said the coronavirus would disappear because a miracle would happen. How do you respond to something like that? Just another joke to Trump.

That’s what the Reagan administration did when it was first questioned about AIDS — make it a gag. During a press conference with Ronald Reagan’s press secretary Larry Speakes, Lester Kinsolving, a political talk radio host in Baltimore, became the first White House correspondent to ask questions about the deadly epidemic. That was in 1982, before HIV had been identified as the cause, and Kinsolving kept asking questions until President Reagan finally acknowledged the disease in 1985, by which time 5,000 people had died. When he asked the questions, Speakes made little of the crisis but made a big deal about poking fun at the journalist, at one point joking that Kinsolving had an “abiding interest in the disease” because he was “a fairy.”

“Crazy.” “Crying.” “Fairy.” Seriously?

It seems belittling nicknames and not taking life-and-death situations earnestly are a common denominator for the Reagan and Trump administrations. And Trump’s obfuscating about the coronavirus, his unwieldy explanations, and his contradictions of his own health experts might be more dangerous than the actual disease, according to many health professionals. What also is causing jitters is putting Vice President Mike Pence in charge of managing the government’s response to the coronavirus. Trump proclaimed that Pence led some kind of miraculous (maybe that’s where Trump got “miracle” from) health care program while he was governor of Indiana.

As we all know and heard, if Pence treats the coronavirus like he did HIV, then we’re sunk. First, he’s no doctor or medical expert, so as the coronavirus “czar” (although Trump doesn’t like that word, perhaps because Russian czars weren’t as strong as Russian autocrats), he has no background leading a bunch of doctors and scientists who are trying to save lives. And now all these medical professionals, including Presidential Medal of Freedom winner Anthony Fauci, must report to him if they want to say anything in the media? Does this not sound reminiscent of how China handled communications about the disease?

Will Pence even understand what they’re communicating to him? And remember, he will then take their vital information, soften it up considerably, make sure it doesn’t “piss off the boss,” and then report back to Trump that “everything is fine.” Maybe that’s what happened Thursday. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said to Pence, “Danger, warning, imminent,” and Pence took a Trump Sharpie, crossed those words out, and wrote “miracle.”

Pence apparently didn’t listen to his own health professionals in Indiana when he brazenly slashed the state’s health care budget and, because of “moral” objections, delayed a needle exchange program, allowing HIV infections to soar. Again, it was a joke to him; at least that’s what Yale epidemiologist Gregg Gonsalves, who conducted the research linking the Indiana HIV outbreak to Pence’s policies, tweeted. He said the decision to name Pence the “Corona Czar” “speaks to a lack of seriousness by the White House” and that Pence “totally botched HIV outbreak in Indiana.”

The similarities are stark between Reagan’s amiable response to AIDS and Trump’s blithe reaction to the coronavirus. They both lackadaisically nodded at the impending health threat, addressed it publicly for the first time with inappropriate comments and witticisms, and originally earmarked measly sums of money that were woefully inadequate to fight off a global menace of a lethal virus.

“It’s not so much a question of if this will happen anymore but rather more a question of exactly when this will happen and how many people in this country will have severe illness,” said Dr. Nancy Messonnier, the head of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the CDC.

The same statement could have been made in the early 1980s about AIDS, and it never was. God help us this time moving forward, and let’s hope the miracle in this case is that the government can actually do something to stem the coronavirus at the start, which would be far more than it did at the beginning of the AIDS epidemic.

The post Trump’s Response to Coronavirus Recalls Reagan Ignoring AIDS appeared first on MyMedicPlus.

Qantas uses HERPES disinfectant during a 36-hour long deep clean of its planes in an attempt to stop the deadly coronavirus from spreading

mymedicplus — Sat, 29 Feb 2020 07:24:03 +0000

Source:dailymail.co.uk

Qantas gave aircraft extensive 36-hour clean after carrying Wuhan passengers
The plane’s cabin was sprayed twice with the disinfectant that kills coronavirus
Items such as pillows, blankets and headphones were disposed of and replaced

Qantas has used hospital-grade cleaning solution capable of stopping sexually transmitted diseases to clean planes carrying people from Wuhan.

Qantas flew three planes carrying passengers from the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak back to Australia.

The airline has stepped up their cleaning efforts in a bid to make sure their future commercial passengers were at minimal risk.

Qantas crews gave the Boeing 747 an extensive 36-hour clean before it resumed its typical flight schedule.

This included all seats, arm rests, tray tables, overhead baggage compartments, walls and floors.

Qantas used Viraclean to clean the aircraft, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

Viraclean is a medical grade disinfectant that has been proven to kill germs of herpes, E coli, hepatitis B and salmonella.

Items such as pillows, blankets and headphones were removed, quarantined and disposed off before they were replaced with new version.

Qantas planes also have HEPA filters, which are used in hospital operating theatres and replace air in cabins every three to five minutes.

This means the air is cleaner than in most forms of public transport.

The cleaning procedures used by Qantas exceeded the ones they had in place for the SARS crisis and is developed by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority.

Four flights – including one rerouted through New Zealand – have brought home Australians trapped in Wuhan following the outbreak.

Three of them were Qantas flights.

Those people were taken to Christmas Island and the Manigurr-ma Village at Howard Springs, an old mining camp about 30km from Darwin, for a 14-day quarantine.

Australians who were on the cruise ship off of Japan – Diamond Princess – returned to Darwin last week on a Qantas flight.

Some of those people have since left their quarantine and have gone back to daily life.

The post Qantas uses HERPES disinfectant during a 36-hour long deep clean of its planes in an attempt to stop the deadly coronavirus from spreading appeared first on MyMedicPlus.

White House Names AIDS Expert Debbie Birx To Help Lead Coronavirus Response

mymedicplus — Fri, 28 Feb 2020 06:35:02 +0000

Source:www.npr.org

The White House sought to show it was shoring up its efforts to corral the spread of coronavirus on Thursday, naming an internationally recognized HIV/AIDS expert as its new coronavirus response coordinator.

Debbie Birx is a State Department ambassador-at-large who works on global health diplomacy issues. Vice President Pence said Birx would be detailed to his office.

President Trump put Pence in charge of the response after the stock market plunged and federal health officials warned that Americans should prepare for disruptions if the new COVID-19 coronavirus worsens in the United States.

The issue has quickly become political, and Democrats in Congress and on the campaign trail have panned Trump for minimizing the risks and failing to appoint a “czar” to lead to the response.

Birx will also join Trump’s coronavirus task force, led by Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, which is charged with responding to the virus. On Thursday, Pence also bolstered its ranks by adding Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Trump’s economic adviser Larry Kudlow — signaling concerns about the growing economic threat posed by the virus. Surgeon General Jerome Adams will also join the task force, Pence said.

Birx directed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s global HIV/AIDS division before she became the U.S. global AIDS coordinator in 2014.

Her new role was applauded by former President Barack Obama’s Ebola response coordinator Ron Klain, who was less formally known as the “Ebola czar.” But Klain — a close adviser to former Vice President and current Democratic primary candidate Joe Biden — noted there are now layers of top responders to the virus.

Pence sought to make clear on Thursday that he was in charge. “I’m leading the task force, will continue to rely on the secretary’s role as chairman of the task force and the leader of Health and Human Services,” Pence said after meeting with the task force.

“But the president wanted to make it clear to the American people that we’re going to bring a whole-of-government approach to this,” he said.

The post White House Names AIDS Expert Debbie Birx To Help Lead Coronavirus Response appeared first on MyMedicPlus.

Improving Cardiovascular Outcomes Among Patients With Type 2 Diabetes: An Interview With Nihar Desai, MD, MPH

mymedicplus — Sat, 22 Feb 2020 06:27:28 +0000

Source:ajmc.com

Nihar Desai, MD, MPH, is an assistant professor of medicine in the Cardiovascular Medicine Section of the Yale School of Medicine and an investigator in the Center for Outcomes Research & Evaluation. His interests include the identification of opportunities to improve outcomes and the evaluation of the impact of novel care delivery systems on cost and quality. He has served in leadership positions in several organizations and is passionate about the need for strong physician leaders to advocate for patients and for the profession.

An editor from The American Journal of Managed Care^® recently conducted a question-and-answer session with Desai to discuss strategies for improving cardiovascular outcomes among patients with type 2 diabetes.

Nihar Desai, MD, MPH: A body of literature demonstrates that diabetes increases the risk of developing CV disease, including coronary heart disease and congestive heart failure. Although there has been some disagreement about whether diabetes is a coronary heart disease equivalent, it clearly is a risk factor for CV disease, and patients with both conditions face considerable morbidity and mortality. More recently, we have come to a more global management paradigm of CV risk factors among patients with diabetes. Because CV disease is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality, optimizing blood pressure, lipids, and the use of antithrombotic therapies and other medications that reduce CV risk plays a central role in the management of patients with type 2 diabetes.

Desai: Ideally, it is the entire care team. Sure, there is an endocrinologist and a cardiologist, but there is also the primary care physician, the advanced practice provider, the pharmacist, and the diabetes educator, among others. The patient expects and deserves the entire care team to be coordinated in their approach and unified in their goal—to improve the patient’s health. I think there is always room for improvement. The system is too often siloed and fragmented, uncoordinated and opaque. We desperately need more multidisciplinary team–based models of care for all our patients, in particular those with diabetes, given all the issues at play.

Desai: I think all cardiologists—regardless of practice setting, geographic area, or number of years in practice—can benefit from educational materials highlighting the optimal management of patients with diabetes and CV disease. Issues related to blood pressure control, antithrombotic therapy, lipid management, and use of other CV-risk reducing therapies are of such critical importance that they deserve to be highlighted and reemphasized. The use of more novel therapies, such as SGLT2 [sodium-glucose cotransporter 2] inhibitors and GLP-1 [glucagon-like peptide 1] receptor agonists, also needs focused educational outreach. These are agents that were historically deemed outside the purview of cardiologists, as they were traditionally thought of as diabetes medications. However, as evidence of their CV benefits continues to emerge, they are increasingly and appropriately viewed as CV risk–reducing medications just like statins. However, this is a paradigm shift, and therefore, education, feedback, and encouragement are required.

Desai: This has been an incredibly important shift. Moving away from diabetes management that focused almost exclusively on glycemic control to a much broader and more patient-centered approach around reducing morbidity and mortality by addressing CV risk has happened over years and decades. I would say the clinical practice environment was [previously more] siloed and fragmented. Each provider had their sphere of influence, and for diabetes, that was glycemic control. However, results from epidemiologic and clinical research compelled a reevaluation. Analyses highlighting the CV risk of patients with diabetes and other [analyses] highlighting the importance of blood pressure, lipid, and antithrombotic therapy to address CV risk in this population helped catalyze a change in focus. More recently, the arrival of therapies that have only modest effects on HbA1c [glycated hemoglobin] levels, including SGLT2 inhibitors and GLP-1 receptor agonists, but have substantial benefits in terms of CV risk have further emphasized the need to look broadly at addressing CV risk.

Desai: A number of clinical trials [have evaluated] diabetes medications of varying mechanisms. The DPP-4 inhibitors have been shown to reduce HbA1c without increasing CV risk, though there may be a signal for increasing the risk of heart failure. More recently, [results of] clinical trials of SGLT2 inhibitors across patients of varying risk suggest that these [medications] can reduce the risk of MACE, particularly among patients with established CV disease. The data for GLP-1 receptor agonists are also consistent [in] showing a reduction in MACE. The newest data to emerge have been the dramatic reductions in the development of heart failure among patients with diabetes but no prior history of heart failure, as well as reductions in morbidity and mortality among patients with heart failure who receive SGLT2 inhibitors. Dapagliflozin has strong data in patients with heart failure, specifically patients with reduced ejection fraction heart failure, though clinical trials with several other SGLT2 inhibitors are ongoing. A very interesting aspect of the most recent data from DAPA-HF [NCT03036124] is that the benefit was consistent regardless of whether the patients had diabetes. Several other SGLT2 inhibitors, including empagliflozin, canagliflozin, and ertugliflozin, are also being studied in clinical trials of heart failure including for both heart failure with reduced and preserved ejection fraction. Secondary analyses of completed trials would suggest that the improvements in outcomes among patients with heart failure will be a class effect, but we eagerly await the results of the dedicated heart failure trials with these other agents.

The post Improving Cardiovascular Outcomes Among Patients With Type 2 Diabetes: An Interview With Nihar Desai, MD, MPH appeared first on MyMedicPlus.

Doctors look to HIV and Ebola drugs for coronavirus cure

mymedicplus — Fri, 21 Feb 2020 07:14:50 +0000

Source: theguardian.com

Doctors are likely to know within two to three weeks whether drugs being used to treat patients infected with the new coronavirus are working, according to the World Health Organization.

The timetable for early results from two trials taking place in China is short but feasible because of the large concentration of sick people at the centre of the outbreak in Hubei province. That allows a significant number of people of similar ages, fitness and stage of illness to be compared.

The drugs have been approved for other conditions, which means they do not have to undergo safety tests in animals and then humans.

Two trials were expedited on the recommendation of the WHO’s experts. Patients in one are being given Kaletra, taken by people with HIV. The drug is a combination of two antiretrovirals, lopinavir and ritonavir. Scientists are awaiting the results from the first 200 people to be treated with it.

The other drug in trials is remdesivir, made by Gilead. It was tested during the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2018 but it was not sufficiently effective against that virus.

The new trial of remdesivir will be “gold standard” and investigate how well it works in moderately and severely ill patients compared with others given a placebo.

The WHO’s director general, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said at a briefing on Thursday there would be preliminary results within three weeks. The drugs chosen have been prioritised by the organisation’s research and development experts.

A third drug, the antimalarial chloroquine, which was being used in China, was not in trials, the WHO said.

Tedros said the international team led by the WHO, now in China, was discussing with frontline workers the efficacy of various treatments. It was important to test and diagnose people promptly, he said, because “the earlier patients are tested and treated, the better they do”.

The team includes experts from several countries, including the US – despite tense Washington-Beijing relations over trade. Others are from Germany, Japan, Nigeria, Russia, South Korea and Singapore.

There are no proven therapeutics for Covid-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus, just as there were none for Sars (severe acute respiratory syndrome). Kaletra is being trialled in Mers (Middle East respiratory syndrome) but the cases are too few to get results quickly.

Tedros said the team was pushing ahead with a vaccine for the long term but it could take about 18 months.

There are 74,675 cases of Covid-19 in China and there have been 2,121 deaths. “The data from China continues to show a decline in new confirmed cases. We are encouraged by this trend but this is no time for complacency,” the WHO’s director general said. Outside China there had been 176 cases in 26 countries and seven deaths, he said.

He urged the international community to help fund the fight against the disease.

“Because of the serious measures that China is taking, the number of cases in the rest of the world is small. But it doesn’t mean that the small number of cases in the rest of the world will stay the same for long.”

The WHO issued an appeal to raise $675m (£524m) because “the finance is still low”, Tedros said.

The post Doctors look to HIV and Ebola drugs for coronavirus cure appeared first on MyMedicPlus.

Coronavirus Cases On Japan Ship Rise To 355

mymedicplus — Mon, 17 Feb 2020 06:24:55 +0000

Source: ibtimes.com

The number of people who have tested positive for the new coronavirus on a quarantined ship off Japan’s coast has risen to 355, the country’s health minister said Sunday.

The new figures came as the United States was preparing to evacuate some of its citizens from the Diamond Princess, which has been in quarantine since February 5 in the port of Yokohama, near Tokyo.

Hong Kong also said it would offer its 330 citizens on board the chance to take a charter flight back. Canada, too, announced a similar decision to repatriate its nationals on the ship.

“So far, we have conducted tests for 1,219 individuals. Of those, 355 people tested positive,” health minister Katsunobu Kato told a roundtable discussion on public broadcaster NHK — a rise of 70 from the last government toll.

Japan’s efforts to control the viral infections on the vessel have prompted international concern.

The cruise ship arrived off the Japanese coast in early February with more than 3,700 passengers and crew members from more than 50 countries and regions.

It was placed under quarantine after authorities found that a passenger who got off the boat in Hong Kong during its voyage tested positive for the virus.

Officials kept finding new infections among the passengers and crew members and transporting them to Japanese hospitals, while others have been told to stay inside their individual cabins during the 14-day quarantine period, which should end on Wednesday.

Japan has not been able to test all those on board due to limited supplies of testing kits, facilities and manpower that are also needed by authorities tracking the spread of the virus among the general population.

“Based on the high number of COVID-19 cases identified onboard the Diamond Princess, the Department of Health and Human Services made an assessment that passengers and crew members onboard are at high risk of exposure,” the US embassy said in a letter to its passengers.

The US, Canada and Hong Kong said those repatriated will go through another two-week quarantine period at home.

The captain of the Diamond Princess has told passengers that the Japanese government might start testing them for the virus from Tuesday, and those with negative results would be allowed to get off the ship from Friday.

The post Coronavirus Cases On Japan Ship Rise To 355 appeared first on MyMedicPlus.

Flu and HIV Drugs Show Efficacy Against Coronavirus

mymedicplus — Wed, 05 Feb 2020 05:29:15 +0000

Source: the-scientist.com

Acombination of flu and HIV medications may be able to treat severe cases of 2019-nCoV, the new coronavirus that has emerged in China, according to doctors in Thailand who have been caring for infected patients. The team’s approach, which used large doses of the flu drug oseltamivir combined with HIV drugs lopinavir and ritonavir, improved the conditions of several patients at the Rajavithi Hospital in Bangkok.

“This is not the cure, but the patient’s condition has vastly improved,” Rajavithi Hospital’s Kriangsak Atipornwanich says of one 70-year-old Chinese woman from Wuhan, according to Reuters. “From testing positive for 10 days under our care, after applying this combination of medicine the test result became negative within 48 hours.”

Thailand has so far recorded 19 cases of coronavirus, Reuters reports, making it the country with the greatest number of infections in Southeast Asia. Eight patients have recovered, while the rest are still undergoing treatment. Officials say that the country’s health ministry would meet today (February 3) to discuss the new treatment for severe cases. “We still have to do more study to determine that this can be a standard treatment,” Atipornwanich tells reporters.

Other countries have also showed interest in using HIV drugs against the new coronavirus. China’s National Health Commission recently began recommending lopinavir and ritonavir (sold together by Illinois-based pharma AbbVie as Kaletra), according to Fierce Pharma. AbbVie has pledged to donate about $1.5 million worth of Kaletra for the effort.

A randomized controlled clinical trial is now underway in China to test the anti-HIV drugs’ efficacy, according to a study published last week (January 24) in The Lancet. Scientists in Hong Kong will also likely test these drugs in patients alongside immune system–boosting medications, Hong Kong University microbiologist Yuen Kwok-Yung tells Science.

Other treatments being considered by national governments and pharma companies include Gilead Sciences’s remdesivir, a drug that was designed to treat Ebola but failed efficacy tests. “Gilead is working closely with global health authorities to respond to the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak through the appropriate experimental use of our investigational compound remdesivir,” the company’s Chief Medical Officer Merdad Parsey says in a statement.

Massachusetts-based Moderna Therapeutics, meanwhile, is collaborating with the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to develop an mRNA vaccine, Fierce Pharma reports.

The post Flu and HIV Drugs Show Efficacy Against Coronavirus appeared first on MyMedicPlus.