Saturday, August 22, 2020

U.S. lags in therapeutic testing for coronavirus


Convalescent plasma
The United States ranks 18th in the testing of COVID-19, per 1,000 population, behind Russia. We are number one in total cases, number two in new cases, #1 in total deaths, #2 in new deaths and #1 in serious/critical cases. And for all of this we can thank Donald Trump for his early reaction to the crisis, telling the public it will just go away. It didn't. The complete incompetence of the oval office lunatic is unquestionable, but his continuing ineptitude is unforgivable. 

But the scientists are telling us...
"the clinical trials necessary to provide that evidence for convalescent plasma and monoclonal antibodies have been fraught with delays and have had problems recruiting volunteers. Many trials are only beginning now, months into the pandemic, because researchers focused their early efforts on therapies, such as hydroxychloroquine, that didn't pan out."
Erica Edwards of NBC points out that we are eight months into the coronavirus pandemic in the United States, and we still don't have a prescribed direction. A direction that should come from Donald Trump, but rather than face the issue, he prefers to play golf. Nero fiddled while Rome burned; the White House maniac plays another round of golf while the U.S. dies from COVID-19. Yet over 40% of Americans still hold a favorable rating of Trump. Why?

Edwards continues...
"Randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trials, considered the gold standard, evaluate whether a treatment works by comparing it to a placebo. At the outset, neither the researchers nor the participants know who is getting the real thing and who is getting the placebo."
But people who have the virus do not want to be the guinea pig, rather they want the real thing now. You can't force someone into this kind of situation, but the predicament clearly shows the lack of education for the public in trying to solve the coronavirus pandemic. People must understand the urgency to get something done before COVID-19 turns into a 1918 flu pandemic. And that's another factor with the flu season near and thousands of anti-vaxxers out there.

Edwards explains the process...
"The idea behind both convalescent plasma and monoclonal antibodies is to provide the immune system with a boost to fight off the virus. Convalescent plasma refers to the antibody-rich blood product taken from patients who've already recuperated, and monoclonal antibodies are a synthetic version of those antibodies that could be mass-produced in a lab."
This article is definitely worth a read.

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