Category Archives: Uncategorized

On a day when the well-respected RECOVERY Study from Great Britain reported there was no significant benefit to hydroxychloroquine in hospitalized patients, a paper was published in the International Journal of Infectious Disease suggesting that there might be benefit from hydroxychloroquine and the combination of that drug with azithromycin.  First, the results from RECOVERY, funded byContinue reading “We are still talking about hydroxychloroquine, but maybe for the last time.”

There has been a flurry of recent news stories about aerosol spread of COVID-19. This has been prompted predominantly by an open letter from 600 scientists criticizing the WHO and Centers for Disease control for not emphasizing the risk of aerosol spread of SARS-CoV-2. The major routes of COVID-19 spread, according to the U.S. Centers for DiseaseContinue reading “A new, non-argument about aerosol spread of COVID-19.”

In respect for the 4th of July, I will provide what I believe is the most valuable message about this pandemic. It is simply that this pandemic will come to an end. People ask me how that will happen, and I can definitively say it will occur in one of two ways: either enough people will becomeContinue reading “Yes, this pandemic will end.”

Yesterday, ABC news ran a story comparing Florida, Connecticut, Texas, and Ohio in their handling of COVID. While the story was balanced in how it described the state’s handling of the infection, it implied that the social distancing requirements directly led to current virus numbers. While this clearly played a part in where each stateContinue reading “The insight provided by five states”

Tonight, I draw your attention to two important articles in this week’s Science Magazine. The first is of report of an inactivated viral vaccine for SAR-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. The investigators used an inactivated virus that could no longer infect cells (or people!) and gave it to primates. The animals showed that this inactivated vaccineContinue reading “Two Important COVID-19 articles from Science Magazine.”

One of the new concepts that came from Dr. Fauci’s testimony on Capitol Hill yesterday was the concept of “pool testing” to screen individuals for COVID-19 infection. This approach is a way to increase the number of people screened for viral infection or antibody without using additional tests. This approach can overcome shortages of testsContinue reading ““Pool” testing for coronavirus infection or antibody.”

Today, before Congress, Dr. Anthony Fauci stated his extreme concerns about the current uptick in the number of COVID-19 infections and the potential for this number to grow. He used the projection of “100,000 infections a day” as a number that could be achieved if Americans continue to ignore public health guidelines related to wearingContinue reading “What did Dr. Fauci mean when he suggested there could be “100,000 COVID-19 infections per day in the United States”?”

Many of you will remember that I was pleased when remdesivir showed efficacy as the first effective antiviral drug for COVID-19. Today, its owner Gilead Sciences announced that most American consumers will be charged $3,120 for a typical course of treatment. The only exception to this pricing will be for US government agencies, such as Veterans hospitals.Continue reading “Is remdesivir worth $3,120?”

A couple of days ago I read an article in the New York times by noted journalist Gina Kolata. Ms. Kolata is well known as a science writer, first at Science Magazine, then for the last 30 years at the New York Times. She is also an accomplished author, and I have enjoyed several of herContinue reading “An article in the New York Times by Gina Kolata has suggested COVID-19 has a similar effect to HIV on the immune system. It does not.”

The headlines today highlighted increases in COVID-19 infections in several states. Of interest, these increases were significant enough to increase hospitalizations, and in the case of Florida, reintroduce social distancing measures. The overall number of daily SARS-CoV-2 virus infections has been increasing slowly since June 1st, however almost all of the increase is related toContinue reading “Finding positive news in the new COVID-19 numbers”