Archives: 2022-02-19

Ivermectin and Hydroxychloroquine 2020 prescriptions for Covid-19 shown highest in GOP-Dominated Counties: a JAMA Research Letter shows.

New prescriptions of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) and ivermectin increased in 2020, driven particularly by rates in counties with the highest proportion of Republican votes in the 2020 US presidential election, according to a cross-sectional study published today in JAMA Internal Medicine. “Our findings are consistent with the hypothesis that US prescribing of hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin during the COVID-19 pandemic may have

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Randomized trial published on JAMA Internal Medicine confirms Ivermectin is ineffective against progression to Severe COVID

Ivermectin treatment given to high-risk patients with mild-to-moderate COVID-19 during the first week of illness did not prevent progression to severe disease, according to results from a randomized clinical trial. “The study findings do not support the use of ivermectin for patients with COVID-19,” researchers conclude in the paper published online today in JAMA Internal Medicine. The open-label

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Vitamins do not lessen chance of dying from COVID-19: review published by University of Toledo researchers.

A new review of COVID-19 hospitalization data by researchers at The University of Toledo has found that taking immune-boosting supplements such as vitamin C, vitamin D and zinc do not lessen your chance of dying from COVID- Early in the pandemic, healthcare providers tried a variety of micronutrients as potential therapies for the new illness. More recently,

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COVID-19 vaccination may protect against variants better than natural infection, Stanford University study finds

COVID-19 vaccines are better than infection at making antibodies to recognize new viral variants, according to a Stanford study. Antibodies generated by COVID-19 vaccines are more suited to recognizing viral variants than antibodies that arise from natural infection, according to a study by researchers at Stanford Medicine. A key finding of the study might explain why: Regions

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NIH researchers Pinpoint “Rogue Autoantibodies” Associated With Severe COVID-19 Blood Clotting

What After studying blood samples from 244 patients hospitalized for COVID-19, a group of researchers, including those who work at the National Institutes of Health, identified “rogue antibodies” that correlate with severe illness and may help explain mechanisms associated with severe blood clotting. The researchers found circulating antiphospholipid antibodies, which can be more common among people

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The effectiveness of vaccination against long COVID: a rapid evidence briefing by UK Health Security Agency

People who had been fully vaccinated against covid-19 were around half as likely to develop long covid symptoms as people who had received only one vaccine dose or were unvaccinated, the UK Health Security Agency has said. The agency conducted a rapid review of evidence, including 15 UK and international studies up to January 2022.

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Creating universal blood-type organs for transplant

A study published in Science Translational Medicine performed at the Latner Thoracic Surgery Research Laboratories and UHN’s Ajmera Transplant Centre has proved that it is possible to convert blood type safely in donor organs intended for transplantation. This finding is an important step towards creating universal type O organs, which would significantly improve fairness in organ allocation

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First gene therapy for Tay-Sachs disease successfully given to two children

Two babies have received the first-ever gene therapy for Tay-Sachs disease after over 14 years of development. Tay-Sachs is a severe neurological disease caused by a deficiency in an enzyme called HexA. This enzyme breaks down a fatlike substance that normally exists in very small, harmless amounts in the brain. Without HexA, however, this fatlike substance can accumulate

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