Off the top of my head we have effective antivirals for HIV, Hepatitis C and herpes (the chickenpox kind when it reactivates (although evidence isn’t great) and the meningitis kind).
Can’t think of anything else.
Not sure there is primary data available at the moment (at least publicly).
Merck’s press release seems to have the most data in it.
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Was reading on some medtwitter follows that this is all PR from a company, but it’s likely required to be released like this because of SEC rules.
A clear East vs West divide in vaccination Europe
Nearly all of the countries below 60% fully vaxxed would be considered part of Eastern Europe (Greece being the exception).
Lack of trust in the government is a major reason but we also had limited access to those vaccines early on compared to Western European countries. There’s only one vaccine manufacturing facility east of the Berlin Wall in Europe. Other countries have one (or more) domestic sources. Very convenient for them. I can’t speak for other eastern countries but the Czech Republic was terrible at logistics and we were too slow in setting them. It was a major failure that really turned away many people.
Toss that on top of the general anti-authority sentiment that came as a result of years under authoritarian rule and you have why things are the way they are.
This is good. Here’s what I found most interesting:
Molnupiravir (MK-4482/EIDD-2801) is an investigational, orally administered form of a potent ribonucleoside analog that inhibits the replication of SARS-CoV-2, the causative agent of COVID-19. Molnupiravir has been shown to be active in several preclinical models of SARS-CoV-2, including for prophylaxis, treatment, and prevention of transmission. Additionally, pre-clinical and clinical data have shown molnupiravir to be active against the most common SARS-CoV-2 variants. Molnupiravir was invented at Drug Innovations at Emory (DRIVE), LLC, a not-for-profit biotechnology company wholly owned by Emory University, and is being developed by Merck & Co., Inc. in collaboration with Ridgeback Biotherapeutics.
Ribonucleoside analogs that act as inhibitors are potentially really fucking dangerous, because if you inhibit your own RNA polymerization, that’s a recipe for a painful death. Here’s one that whiffed:
And here’s another that’s used as chemotherapy for cancer. Side effects are, uh, not all that pleasant.
That all said, nucleoside analogs make up a ton of the effective antivirals CN listed earlier, so it’s logical to screen those heavily, and if we were to find an effective antiviral therapudic, a nucleoside analog was pretty likely to be it. I’m curious what the side effects turn out to be, but it sounds like they’re not all that bad if they’re giving it to mild to moderate cases and finding that it’s worth it. Really fortunate stuff.
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Here’s a tidbit from the wikipedia page of Molupiravir. Maybe the derpers will have something to cling on to after all.
There is obviously more to the story and studies on the safety of the drug were done, but I’m sure that’s enough for someone to get the ball rolling.
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Ireland bought a few batches of the vaccine from Romania, which Romania had to spare because of low take up of the vaccine by the population.
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Did oral acyclovir(?) work for mono? I was in a trial back in the 80s.
Damn tail tho.
Yeah, I think I was saying, like, a year ago that for vaccines, you can be pretty confident in their safety, because the very action of a vaccine being effective also means that it would be inducing your immune system to flush it from your body. For small molecule therapudics, it’s not always clear how they get metabolized and cleared, and particularly for nucleoside analogs, they can be pretty unpleasant or toxic. I do want to see the data.
Effective for herpes but not mono.
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Doubt it since I never prescribe it for (or even test for) mono. Only for zoster.
Prescribed valacyclovir for Ramsey-Hunt Syndrome (think zoster in the ear with facial paralysis on the same side) this week. Evidence is meh for it but we do it anyways. Acyclovir/valacyclovir are kinda shitty, but we use them for people with neurological issues secondary to viral infections regularly.
Third shot (and flu - figured get it done now even if maybe it’s a little early) in
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any idea if RNA tech is going to make flu vax more effective?
You can’t even effectively search for this on Twitter because it’s 99.9% conspiracy theory fucking nonsense. Well-oiled machines run by tech geniuses. The leading conspiracy seems to be that this is simply a slightly-redesigned version of ivermectin that will allow them to avoid patent expiration and score tEh BiG pRofIt$. @Melkerson They are already all over your Rick Bright dude obviously.
Maybe? But flu’s issue is that it’s a rapidly moving target compared with covid.
2020: “It’s just the flu.”
2021: “It’s just repackaged ivermectin.”
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They are going to avoid taking the vaccine because bOoStErS but take this every time they catch it.
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That was “the research”.
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I’m actually not too sure what’s gonna happen with this assuming it’s a real thing that works / acquires EUA and isn’t just an lol_pump that turns out to be vaporware. But if you’re tuned into the conspiracy chatter at all, you know that there’s potential for major cognitive dissonance: On one hand, we have Merck & Co, makers of the of alt-reality wonder drug ivermectin for humans, offering a “new” COVID drug that’s “just rebranded ivermectin.” On the other hand, we have Merck & Co, makers of Vioxx, a drug that killed perhaps 500,000* people worldwide; it’s a landmark case in conspiracy circles and proof that all clinical trials are fake. Serious potential for some Two Buttons memes on this one.
*The FDA’s estimate was about 28,000 deaths but if you accept that then you forego the possibility of a bottomless conspiracy, and where’s the fun in that?
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oh boy, my town facebook groups are gonna be LIT!
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