Novel Coronavirus Information Center

Elsevier Coronavirus Information Center: Here you will find expert and curated information for the research and health community on SARS-CoV-2 (the new coronavirus) and COVID-19 (the disease).

All resources are freely accessible and include guidelines for physicians and patients.

This is a blog by Jean-Pierre Kiekens, an Oxford graduate and former university professor, featuring independent news and policy analysis on the pandemic with a focus on treatments. This blog has generated a great impact on the community of first-line workers in the health sector and although it represents their personal opinion, it collects all serious points of view and generates a discussion similar to that which has taken place within the AAPS or the Colombian Association of Infectology but addresses the problem in a very effective way by complementing the academic and official knowledge with the Open Source that is being developed within the international medical community.

Honors and distinctions of Didier Roault

Didier Raoult has received numerous recognitions and honors and before the pandemic was considered a top 3 virologist "Commander of the Order of Merit" (2015) "Officer of the Legion of Honor" (2011) "Knight of the Legion of Honor" (2000) "Knight of the Order of Merit" (1995)

Didier Raoult has received 25 national and international awards.

National awards: Didier Raoult received the 2015 Foundation Louis D Award (Institut de France); 2010 Inserm Grand Prix (for the entire race); 2009 Eloi Collery Award from the National Academy of Medicine; Jean Valade Award 2003 from the Research Foundation; Piraud Prize 1997 from the French Medical Foundation; 1996 French Science and Army Prize; Associate Professors Award, Marseille 1986; Nourri - Lemarié Prize 1985 (Tropical Medicine), France.

International Awards: 2014 Thomas J Marrie Award - Halifax (Canada); 2012 Medical Grand Round, Shaia Annual Conference, Virginia (USA); 2010 Price Excellence in Clinical Medicine, Nijmegen (The Netherlands); Khwarizmi International Award 2009 (KIA), Tehran (Iran); Sackler Lecturer Award 2008, Tel Aviv University (Israel); J.D. 2008. Williams Awards (UK);

Relevant lectures: Introductory Lecture 2007 (American Society for Microbiology) ICAAC, Chicago (USA); 2006 Distinguished Lecture at Washington State University, Washington (USA); 2006 Medical Grand Round, Medical School, Stanford (USA); 2006 Medical Grand Round, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston (USA); 2005 Medical Grand Round, Medical Grand Round, Chicago Hospital (USA); 2005 Lecture by Fred Soper (American Society for Trop Med Hyg) Washington (USA); 2003 J. Smadel Lecture (Infectious Diseases Society of America), San Diego (United States);

Others: 2002 Prize for Overseas Sciences, Royal Belgian Society of Tropical Medicine (Belgium); Award of Excellence 2002, European Society for Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases; 2002 E. Garner King Memorial Conference, Edmonton (Canada); 2000 Pfizer, IDCP Discovery Series;

Hydroxychloroquine has about 90 percent chance of helping COVID-19 patients

In a letter to Governor Doug Ducey of Arizona, the American Association of Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) presents a frequently updated table of studies reporting the results of treating COVID-19 with the antimalarial drugs chloroquine (CQ ) and hydroxychloroquine (HCQ), Plaquenil®).

Hydroxychloroquine is the "most effective therapy" for the treatment of coronavirus: a global survey of more than 6,000 doctors shows

Abril 2 2020

Hidroxicloroquina: ¡la ayuda está en camino!

Marzo 29 2020

Los demócratas, los medios de comunicación y las personas que desprecian al presidente no quieren que estos juicios tengan éxito. Tres gobernadores demócratas han ido tan lejos como para prohibir el uso del cóctel de drogas. Y uno incluso ha amenazado con actuar contra los médicos que lo recetan. Lo cual es una extraña yuxtaposición para los días en que vivimos. Parece que el Presidente se preocupa más por sus electores en sus estados que sus propios gobernadores.

Hydroxychloroquine is now used in several countries, according to a map by French Dr. Didier Raoult.

Abril 2 2020

As coronavirus continues to spread around the world, scientists, doctors and researchers are working around the clock to find a cure for the deadly virus. Today, renowned French Dr. Didier Raoult a new map that showed that malaria drug hydroxychloroquine is now being used worldwide even as mainstream media continues to downplayed the effectiveness of the drug.

Breaking Results: Sermo’s COVID-19 Real Time Barometer Study

Marzo 27

Worldwide Remdesivir usage grows, but 67% of doctors believe Remdesivir would be most effective administered earlier, before patients become severely ill

Actualización importante de # Dr.Hany Mahfouz:

After treating hundreds of patients here in the US, I believe that COVID-19 does not cause severe viral pneumonia or ARDS, as was initially thought. All lung mechanics are intact and lung compliance on the ventilator appears normal.

COVID-19 is a very unpleasant virus that causes a unique effect as it affects the hemoglobin molecules in the blood and that is why severe hypoxemia and multi-organ failure develop due to a severe decrease in Hb carrying capacity caused by the binding and inhibition of the heme globin molecule And this is how hydroxychloroquine and flaviprivir work by inhibiting the binding of the virus coat protein to the porphyrin ring molecule.

Ventilation and ARDS protocols can induce ventilator-induced lung injury rather than treat the condition. The infiltrate on X-ray and CT scan is caused by oxidative stress from the accumulation of virus-extracted heme in the alveoli that causes chemical pneumonitis, not viral pneumonia.

The virus is porphyrin dependent, so it is more severe in men and grows faster with glycosylated Hb, and that is why it is bad in diabetics and older patients. The higher the Hb F and A2 the better, as there are no beta globin chains to bind together, so it is not very bad in children. Hyperbaric oxygen and blood transfusion can help temporarily. The virus induces a condition similar to altitude, methemoglobinemia, and carbon monoxide poisoning.

In Brief:

1. COVID * does not cause pneumonia or ARD. We are treating a suspected wrong disease.

2. SARS2 * Corona Virus binds to hemoglobin in a certain way that releases the ion * iron * into the circulation

3. Hb * loses its ability to bind oxygen, so no oxygen is delivered to major organs. This is why we see resistant hypoxia along with very rapid multi-organ failure.

4. To simplify it further, we can take the example of the CO-potion where Hb cannot carry oxygen.

5. The * iron * released into the circulation is so toxic that it causes powerful * oxidative damage * to the lungs (which explains the bilateral - and always bilateral - ground glass opacities observed on chest CT of these patients, who were mistakenly treated as bilateral pneumonia)

6. The body tries to compensate by raising the rate of Hb synthesis, which explains why Hb is high in these patients

7. Other compensatory mechanisms to deal with iron loading, such as increased * ferritin * level account for the very high ferritin seen in these patients

8. Chloroquine * as antimalarial drugs is working protecting Hb against invasion by malaria parasites ... it is doing the same here but only protecting Hb against virus invasion

9. This theory could explain why we are losing patients so rapidly and why mechanical ventilation is not as effective in treatment and the use of the ARDS mechanical ventilation protocol is not causing any benefit. it could actually be useless and cause more lung damage

10. Of course, more research is needed to understand the exact pathogenesis because this is the only hope for proper treatment. You can't deal with what you don't really know.

11. This could also explain why high * ferritin * is a poor prognostic marker (too much iron means too much Hb lost its O2 carrying capacity)

12. Why there is * monocytosis * since the body needs an excess of macrophages to swallow the excess iron load ... Also why there is * Lymphopenia * since the differentiation of white blood cells is favored towards the monocyte line instead of the lymphocyte line.

13. Why * the liver * damage with a high * ALT * level occurs and why it has the worst prognosis; may be due to direct viral infection of hepatocytes or iron overload

ANTI-PARASITE DRUG USED SINCE 1980S MAY HELP STOP CORONAVIRUS, NEW STUDY SAYS

Australian researchers have published a study showing a drug commonly used to treat parasite infections can also kill coronavirus in a laboratory setting in under 48 hours.

Researchers at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia have discovered that the antiparasitic drug Ivermectin can inhibit replication of SARS-CoV-2, the virus the causes COVID-19, according to a study published Friday in the journal Antiviral Research.

"Ivermectin is very widely used and seen as a safe drug. We need to figure out now whether the dosage you can use it at in humans will be effective—that's the next step," said the study's leader Dr. Kylie Wagstaff in a statement.

"We found that even a single dose could essentially remove all viral RNA by 48 hours and that even at 24 hours there was a really significant reduction in it," she added.

The exact manner in which the drug is able to kill the virus is not yet known, although Wagstaff said it was likely done by "dampening down" the ability of host cells to clear the drug.

Ivermectin has been widely used since the 1980s to treat head lice, scabies and several other infections caused by parasites. The drug is also used to treat the skin condition rosacea.

How Fear, Groupthink Drove Unnecessary Global Lockdowns

In the face of a novel virus threat, China clamped down on its citizens. Academics used faulty information to build faulty models. Leaders relied on these faulty models. Dissenting views were suppressed. The media flamed fears and the world panicked.

That is the story of what may eventually be known as one of the biggest medical and economic blunders of all time. The collective failure of every Western nation, except one, to question groupthink will surely be studied by economists, doctors, and psychologists for decades to come.

To put things in perspective, the virus is now known to have an infection fatality rate for most people under 65 that is no more dangerous than driving 13 to 101 miles per day. Even by conservative estimates, the odds of COVID-19 death are roughly in line with existing baseline odds of dying in any given year.

Health ministry recommends remdesivir for moderate cases, HCQ for early course of COVID-19

Last Updated on June 13, 2020 at 7:26 pm

New Delhi, June 13: The Health Ministry on Saturday recommended the use of antiviral drug remdesivir in moderate stage of COVID-19 while backtracking from its earlier stance on hydroxychloroquine, saying the anti-malarial drug should be used in the early course of the disease and not on critically ill patients.

It also okayed off-label application of tocilizumab, a drug that modifies the immune system or its functioning, and convalescent plasma for treating coronavirus-infected patients in moderate stage of the illness.
In its revised ‘Clinical Management Protocols for COVID-19’ the ministry dropped the use of azithromycin in combination with hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) in severe cases and requiring ICU management.

Hydroxychloroquine has demonstrated in-vitro activity against SARS-CoV2 and was shown to be clinically beneficial in several small single-centre studies though with significant limitations, it stated.
“Nonetheless, several large observational studies with severe methodologic limitations have shown no effect on mortality or other clinically meaningful outcomes.

“As such, the evidence base behind its use remains limited as with other drugs and should only be used after shared decision making with the patients while awaiting the results of ongoing studies,” the revised document stated.
As is the case with other antivirals, this drug should be used as early in the disease course as possible to achieve any meaningful effects and should be avoided in patients with severe disease, the health ministry said, adding an ECG should ideally be done before prescribing the drug.

Under emergency use authorization, remdesivir may be considered for patients in moderate stage requiring oxygen support. It is not recommended for those with severe renal impairment and high level of liver enzymes, pregnant and lactating women, and those below 12 years, the document stated.

The drug, administered in the form of injection, should be given at a dose of 200 mg on day one followed by 100 mg daily for five days.

Del desastre a la victoria: cómo Guayaquil venció al Covid-19

Por Romina Mella.-

A inicios de abril, Ecuador figuraba como uno de los países con mayor  mortalidad en el mundo por causa del Covid-19. 

Guayaquil, su mayor ciudad, era la más golpeada por la pandemia: morían alrededor de 500 personas por día. Un despacho del New York Times en español del 23 de abril describía así una situación que estremeció al mundo:

“Ecuador ha sido devastado por el coronavirus: queda claro con los cuerpos abandonados en las aceras, desplomados en las sillas de ruedas, puestos en ataúdes de cartón y apilados por centenas en las morgues”.

En efecto, durante las primera quincena de ese mes, las muertes se multiplicaron ocho veces por encima de lo habitual. Bastaba ver las imágenes de los hospitales desabastecidos de medicinas para tratar la pandemia, colapsados por la cantidad de ciudadanos desesperados en busca de atención,  los muertos regados en las calles. 

La imagen era la de una impotencia desoladora del gobierno y la sociedad diezmada por el imperio de la peste.

Pero un mes después, la situación había cambiado drásticamente. El 10 de mayo, por primera vez no se registró ningún fallecido por Covid-19 en Guayaquil. Y en los últimos 10 días, el promedio ha sido apenas de un fallecido diario.

HCQ Helps Contain COVID-19 Cases: New Evidence and a Major Retraction

Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) — the controversial COVID-19 treatment touted by President Donald Trump — might be gaining new traction in the fight against the Wuhan coronavirus.

The latest positive results come from Vadodara, India, where city officials have conducted a major study involving more than 300,000 people, including “health workers and other frontline staff.”

The Indian Express reports:

The administration has analysed a sample of over 1 lakh [lakh = 100,000] residents, who were mostly close contacts of positive persons and the effect of HCQ in containing the transmission of the virus. According to the analysis, of the 48,873 close contacts of positive patients who took one dose of HCQ, 102 turned Covid-19 positive and 12 succumbed to the infection whereas 48 of the 17,776 close contacts of positive patients who took two doses of HCQ turned positive and only one died. The study also states that of the 33,563 close contacts of patients who took three HCQ doses, 43 tested positive and one died.

Local health official Dr. Devesh Patel told the paper, “It has shown positive results. We have the numbers and not one person has complained of complications. The only side effect reported is mild gastritis, which is common with administering heavy medicines and can be effectively handled.

Covid-19: hydroxychloroquine works, a proof ?

On 14 July some people asked about the Swiss data.  According to the latter, Switzerland has reclassified some patients.  No information is available to date.  We had contacted the OFSP without reply to date.

What we can say is that the source used for the Johns Hopkins University analysis reports the following information: 1968 deaths for Switzerland to date.  According to OFSP data there are 1,688 deaths in the graph presented, but there is also a note that explains that 158 cases were not represented due to missing data. As a result, there is a difference of 280 deaths between the two databases. 

By comparison Johns Hopkins reports 30,032 deaths for France and Public Health Organisation (santé publique)  has 30,029 deaths.  A discrepancy of 3 deaths at the date of publication.

The Tedious Debate About Hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19 Continues

The FDA announced today that it had revoked the “compassionate use” status of hydroxychloroquine. The drug, first given for malaria and now used to treat rheumatoid arthritis and lupus, has been under constant assault from the media and Democrats. Mostly because President Trump expressed hope that it would be effective in fighting COVOD-19.

Hydroxychloroquine and Severe COVID-19

Compassionate use was directed at end of life care. It permitted doctors to provide the drug to people with severe COVID-19 in the hospital. This was also at a time when it was assumed that most of these patients were suffering from severe viral pneumonia.

Since the early days of the pandemic, physicians have learned that is not true in many cases. Rather, the virus causes an overreactive immune response called cytokine syndrome. This has changed the treatment of severe illness caused by COVID-19. According to the Wall Street Journal:

The President has science behind his optimism about hydroxychloroquine

Trump didn’t select hydroxychloroquine for the treatment of the CCP Virus. He is not a doctor who is prescribing it to patients. He is also not a researcher dependent on double blind studies to come to a conclusion. Maybe he can read and that is why he is hopeful about the course of treatment.

You might think the members of the White House Press Corps, the Corporate Media talking heads and Democrats might want to do some basic Googling before beclowning themselves. You would be wrong. Yes ladies and gents, that is an actual congresswoman from Akron, Ohio.

Covid-19: hydroxychloroquine works episode II "Stupefying effects in 53 countries"

ANALYSIS: The nrCFR index (*) is a measure of the quality of the medical management and care of the Covid-19 pandemic in a country over time It was the subject of a previous publication on July 13 (1), obviously stimulating the interest of Internet users from everywhere who hastened to make graphs for other countries. And there, surprise, more than 50 countries were impacted by the fraudulent Mehra study (#LancetGate) published on May 22, 2020, then retracted on June 4, 2020. This study widely promoted by mainstream media had several effects :

• a psychological effect on doctors, and on patients whose consent is required for an off-label prescription

• the prohibition of dispensing (amounting to forbidding prescribing) of hydroxychloroquine in certain countries

• the suspension by WHO of clinical trials arms including hydroxychloroquine. This had been hastily followed by many countries, including France.

The hydroxychloroquine debacle: Playing doctor on social media platforms

In the past few days, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube have removed from their sites a video in which a group of doctors endorse the use of hydroxychloroquine, in combination with the antibiotic Zithromax and zinc, as an effective treatment for early stage COVID-19. The social media platforms claim the doctors’ message violated their policies against publishing what CNN described as “false and dubious claims.”

Why are these social media giants deciding what treatments work or don’t work? How do they know whether claims of hydroxychloroquine’s effectiveness are true or false?

Before taking down the Breitbart News-posted video, it had garnered 14 million views on Facebook and 40,000 on YouTube. Among others retweeting it was President Trump, who famously has taken hydroxychloroquine as a prophylactic measure and been lambasted by the media for his confidence in the medication.

Italian scientist says she discovered main mechanism behind COVID-19

COVID-19 damages the hemoglobin, impairing the ability of red blood cells to transport oxygen throughout the body, compromising the lungs and resulting in Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS), Italian pharmacology scholar Annalisa Chiusolo explained to The Jerusalem Post.

If her thesis is correct, it would resolve many outstanding questions about the novel coronavirus, such as the greater vulnerability of men – specifically male diabetics – to become seriously ill from the virus, as well as the lower rate at which pregnant women and children contract COVID-19.

Perceiving COVID-19 Pandemic as Terrorism 2.0

A recent report of the University of Oxford has suggested that more than one-fourth of the population in the United Kingdom believed the COVID-19 pandemic started in a Chinese laboratory as a bioweapon/bioterrorism agent. This came as a part of the massive public reaction stirred by the intractable spread of Coronavirus rapidly crossing borders, leading to economic and social disruption and an unremitting media coverage.

Renowned psychologists Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky argue that people sometimes judge the probability of events in the world by the ease with which relatable instances come to mind. When forced to make a decision, we rely on what is brought to mind quickly, which is a useful mental shortcut, commonly described as the availability heuristic. In the case of COVID-19 pandemic, these assumptions could possibly originate as a result of the global phenomenon of terrorism which took the world by storm previously.  

Hydroxychloroquine is currently being used with great success – Qatar has a case fatality rate of only 0.04% with 21 deaths out of 43,714 cases.

It has been nearly two months since Qatar implemented a series of measures to contain the outbreak of COVID-19, the highly infectious respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus.

The government has since closed schools, issued stay-at-home orders and imposed travel bans on travellers from many countries. But while infection rates continue to rise, the number of deaths here remains low.

On Talk to Al Jazeera, we speak to Qatar’s minister of public health, Dr Hanan Mohamed al-Kuwari, about the government’s efforts to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic.

France Banned Over the Counter Chloroquine Days Before First Western Scientific Report on Pandemic

October 2019, as global protests were raging across the world, an agency no one had heard of made an astonishing decision.

“Painkiller tablets such as aspirin, paracetamol and ibuprofen will be placed behind pharmacy counters and no longer be freely available on shelves in France from January 15 2020, it has been confirmed…