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Tuesday, 18 February 2020

Coronavirus: run, here come the experimental drugs

[Waking Times]: The virus hunters have fallen far short of proving a coronavirus is causing this “outbreak.” But here come the antiviral drugs.

They’re ordinarily used for other diseases (malaria, HIV) or, in one case, no disease yet (unapproved, unlicensed). But it’s time for “heroic measures.” A better term would be “reckless experimentation.”

Public health officials are expressing a mixture of hope and…vampire-ish worry that the epidemic may not last long enough to properly test the efficacy of the drugs.

LA Times, 2/13/2020, “Doctors fight coronavirus outbreak with drugs that target HIV, malaria and Ebola”:

—Characterizing the remarks of a Harvard professor of medicine, the Times author writes: “The lack of certainty surrounding treatment for coronaviruses is partly due to the boom-and-bust nature of outbreaks — they can spread like wildfire and then disappear… Although that is good for the public’s health, it also means scientists sometimes don’t have the time or the means to thoroughly test a treatment in humans.” Tsk, tsk, what a shame....<<<Read The Full Article Here>>>...