The latest The Food and Drug Administration authorized the first combination test for the flu and coronavirus that is fully performed at home, my colleague Laurie McGinley reports. The agency granted emergency use authorization to the Lucira Covid-19 & Flu Test, a single-use kit that provides results from a nasal swab in about 30 minutes. The test is for people with symptoms of a respiratory tract infection, and can be purchased without a prescription by anyone 14 or older. The test could be particularly helpful in winters like this one with flu, covid-19 and RSV jockeying to inflict an array of miserable symptoms. Before now, no at-home test for flu has been available. Instead, people are usually tested at a physician's office or urgent care clinic, and other combination flu-coronavirus tests typically require that samples be sent to a lab for analysis, Laurie notes. A group of doctors calling themselves The Front Line Covid-19 Critical Care Alliance first championed ivermectin as a "miracle" coronavirus treatment. It failed to live up to the hype. Now, they are promoting the anti-parasitic drug to prevent and treat the flu and RSV despite lack of scientific evidence that it works, my colleague Lauren Weber reports. But there is no clinical data in humans to support using ivermectin to treat any of the illnesses, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other medical experts, which strongly advise against using it. Health officials warn that ivermectin, commonly taken as a pill, can interact with medications such as blood thinners and that overdosing can result in gastrointestinal symptoms and neurological effects. One of the alliance's co-founders, Pierre Kory, a Wisconsin critical care doctor, responded through a spokesman to criticism that the group is profiteering from medical misinformation. "Ivermectin has been found to have strong antiviral properties and is effective as part of a protocol that includes other medications and supplements," Kory said in a statement. Other important news Debate about the origins of the pandemic returned to the news with the report Sunday of a new assessment by the Energy Department which concluded with "low confidence" that the virus was most likely spread by an accidental laboratory leak in China. The updated assessment, in a classified intelligence report first reported by the Wall Street Journal, is said to be based on new intelligence not yet disclosed by officials. U.S. intelligence agencies remain divided over the origins of the pandemic. The department joins the FBI in backing the lab-leak theory. Meanwhile, four other agencies and a national intelligence panel believe that the virus likely emerged through natural transmission. The CIA and another agency that officials wouldn't name remain undecided. There isn't enough evidence to recommend more than one coronavirus shot per year for the elderly and people with weakened immune systems, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's panel of independent vaccine advisers said last week. The group supported an annual booster campaign, which will probably take place in the fall, Reuters reports. Vaccine maker Moderna is paying the National Institutes of Health $400 million for using a chemical technique developed by government and academic researchers in its mRNA-based coronavirus vaccine. The company made roughly $36 billion selling it during the pandemic, the New York Times reports. |
Your questions, answered We hear that variants like XBB. 1.5 are much more transmissible than previous variants, and articles explain this in terms of mutations on the spike protein. My question is: for those of us who are active in the real world, what does this mean? For example, should we avoid eating indoors in restaurants under any circumstances because there will be times when no one is masked? Or is the distance between tables a crucial variable? Should we avoid going to live events, e.g., theater and concerts, if people are unmasked, even if we are masked? — Tom, Md. Physicians say that protecting yourself from a highly transmissible version of the omicron variant essentially comes down to three things. No. 1: Being up to date on coronavirus vaccine and booster shots. "This is the most important thing," said Joseph Iser, an internist and member of the American College of Preventive Medicine's Board of Regents. Iser, a 73-year-old diabetic who loves to square dance, dines at restaurants but is cognizant of how the tables are spaced, and also masks in crowds. He said he's fielded questions from square-dancing clubs about eliminating mask and vaccine requirements. "I tell them, 'I wouldn't,'" he said. "Square dancing is a contact dance. You are closer than six feet." No. 2: How much covid is circulating in the community where someone lives or plans to travel. This can be checked by visiting the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's website, which measures if a community has low, medium or high levels of disease. "If you're low, you're good to go," said Judith O'Donnell, a physician, epidemiologist and director of infection prevention and control at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center. O'Donnell added that people should consider masking in public about two weeks before an event. "If you've got something big coming up — a wedding, graduation, a planned spring break trip — you want to make sure you're doing everything to prevent being infected right before you go," she said. No. 3: Personal risk factors, such as health status and age. The increased transmissibility of XBB. 1.5 calls for a bit more caution, Robert Wachter, chair of the University of California, San Francisco, Department of Medicine, said via email. If you began letting down your guard, say by not wearing a mask on public transportation, he said, consider adding it back — and also upgrading to a KN95 mask if not already wearing one. "Decisions should be based on your own risk factors, your immunity status, your risk tolerance, and the state of your immunity (from both vaccinations and prior infections)," he said. "One size doesn't fit all." |
Email
No comments:
Post a Comment