[DCEite]

Today the weather turned quite pleasant in Delhi NCR during evening and as expected scores of folks came out on the streets, parks and neighbourhood to just enjoy the weather and roam around.

What I observed carefully was atleast 3 out of 5 people on the streets either did not have masks or the mask was hung around the neck.

It is a scary situation.

Either 1) folks are overconfident about their immunity (specially the younger folks) or 2) there is lack of awareness on the actual speed and severity of spread of this infection.

Whatever it is, we are for sure going to overtake USA pretty quickly in terms of overall cases.

[NitinDev]

Tamil Nadu extends lockdown till July 31, strict curbs to continue in Chennai, Madurai and surrounding areas

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by NitinDev

Tamil Nadu extends lockdown till July 31, strict curbs ...

I had to check the definitions of curb and kerb!

And it isn't that simple. From a couple of reports, I can gather that we have more-of-the-same-as-now extended to 5 July,

and then on Sundays

And some sort of lockdown on other days until end of July, but exactly what?

[ritz3645]

Covaxin — India’s first Covid-19 vaccine by Bharat Biotech gets DCGI nod for human trials
Phase I & Phase II clinical trials demonstrated safety & immune response. The vaccine is being developed in collaboration with ICMR & NIV.


https://theprint.in/science/covaxin-...trials/451296/

[DCEite]

Originally Posted by ritz3645

Covaxin — India’s first Covid-19 vaccine by Bharat Biotech gets DCGI nod for human trials
Phase I & Phase II clinical trials demonstrated safety & immune response. The vaccine is being developed in collaboration with ICMR & NIV.


https://theprint.in/science/covaxin-...trials/451296/

I have a question for Doctors.

The vaccines being developed today (either in India or abroad) are targeting a specific mutation of SARS-COV2 virus.

What is the guarantee that the vaccine will work with all future mutations of the virus ?

Or is it that the vaccine creates antibodies for a specific "base" material in the Virus cells, which is assumed to be same for all mutations.

Edit: Also i read somewhere that vaccines are not effective against "mRNA" type of virus like SARS-COV2 is. Please enlighten.

[Behemoth]

Some good news here:
A recently concluded clinical trial of the Ivermectin and Doxy Combo has given very good results and has shown to be more effective tham the HCQ and Azithromycin combo tried earlier.
https://www.trialsitenews.com/iverme...-under-6-days/

If we are to overcome this pandemic, a simple solution like this is required, which is accessible to everyone and also very cheap. If people are no longer afraid of dying after contracting the disease, we can all just get back to our lives.
Our lives though have changed forever and several sectors are completely damaged for many years to come. The building Materials sector in which I was employed is completely in tatters and I am also among those affected by job losses. I doubt that this sector would revive anytime for the next 1-2 years now. Maybe I need to start reskilling, but considering I am 43, It maybe already too late for that.
Anyway, this is the new normal now and this period of uncertainty is probably the worst we will see in our lifetime (Hopefully).

From the same article from Trialsitenews.com, here is a paragraph which I found very interesting:

At the Intersection of COVID-19, Drugs, Money & Power: The Complex

TrialSite News agrees with WHO and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that an important next step for acceptance of Ivermectin as a treatment for COVID-19 would include results from randomized controlled trials. And a number of them have commenced.

One of the at least 31 Ivermectin clinical trials has been completed from the University of Baghdad. Principal Investigator Faiq Gorial is trying to get the study results published. The outcome is not clear yet. Dr.Eli Schwartz, a prominent key opinion leader out of the renowned Sheba Medical Center, will complete an Ivermectin randomized controlled trial by September/October 2020. Dr. Schwartz, a brilliant physician and researcher, has been bullish on the prospect for the anti-parasitic drug targeting the novel coronavirus. The University of Kentucky Ivermectin study is now recruiting while the Johns Hopkins University Ivermectin study for whatever reason appears to still not be recruiting.

But the complete lack of intellectual interest in the Ivermectin movement, including reputable hospital protocol approved, off-label, controlled observational studies, raises suspicions of a set point of view.

That TrialSIte News has spoken with several physicians around the world in combination with outcomes from these carefully run observational studies starts to make the team wonder if there isn’t some institutional bias against this particular alternative approach. There appears to be a strange lack of any intellectual curiosity on the part of the “establishment” we refer to as a pharma-government-academia industrial complex or “complex.”

While intriguing movements such as Ivermectin with growing data points of success are completely ignored, Remdesivir is blindly embraced: although the drug hasn’t really demonstrated success anywhere else (e.g. not for Ebola) and shown only some positive results, they certainly aren’t any better than the apparent Avigan (Favipiravir) results, which have led to approvals targeting COVID-19 in Russia, China and India. Bizarre given the U.S. government injected $138+ million into Favipiravir just eight years ago for the exact scenario that is now unfolding: a global pandemic.

Rather, the “complex” pushes on with remdesivir to the point that no one seemed to mind when standard protocol was ignored when just weeks before the clinical trial’s conclusion, the primary endpoint was literally changed so that the study could still be relevant. The primary outcome measure established in the remdesivir protocol was chucked last minute to save the faith. That bold and seemingly brazen move raised red flags among most critical thinkers. Perhaps that is how much power is now concentrated in “complex” circles.

The world of drug development, involving large biopharmaceutical companies, major academic medical centers, and regulators perhaps becomes too cozy. Over the coming months, TrialSite News will certainly look for chinks in the armor of the “complex.”

[JithinR]

W.H.O is sending a team to China to probe the origin of the COVID-19 pandemic.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...vid-19-origins

[lapis_lazuli]

Patanjali U turn on Coronil....

https://zeenews.india.com/india/pata...e-2292729.html

[mvadg]

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-h...-idUSKBN2400DZ

BEIJING (Reuters) - China’s military has received the greenlight to use a COVID-19 vaccine candidate developed by its research unit and CanSino Biologics (6185.HK) after clinical trials proved it was safe and showed some efficacy, the company said on Monday.

I'm not sure if I want to be subjected to this vaccine, but I guess this is one way to serve your country.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by Behemoth

Some good news here:
A recently concluded clinical trial of the Ivermectin and Doxy Combo has given very good results and has shown to be more effective tham the HCQ and Azithromycin combo tried earlier.

It's good news, although Doxy can be a horrible medicine to take! But these things are all relative, and I guess I preferred the nasty stomach-acid side effect to the worse urinary-tract infection for which I had to take it. And hey, no need to worry about catching malaria while taking it.

Second and hey: Lots of people don't get unpleasant side effects from Doxy.

Originally Posted by JithinR

W.H.O is sending a team to China to probe the origin of the COVID-19 pandemic.

And I'm sure they'll be given full access to investigate whoever and whatever they want. Or maybe not.

Does anybody still care anyway? Maybe the politicians do.

[skdking]

https://www.indiatoday.in/india/stor...734-2020-06-25

This article is posted here just to show the kind of articles keep appearing and disappearing.

Peace to all.

[proton]

Pretty sobering clip:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKvSDYJbNQg

[DCEite]

Has anyone noticed that in past few days, the trend of daily new cases has been:

1) A study decline or flattening of curve for states in North India - eg. Delhi/UP/Rajasthan/Haryana

2) A disturbing rise in cases in south of India - Telengana/Kerala/Karnataka/Tamilnadu etc.

What could be the reasons for this trend ?

[himarg]

Originally Posted by DCEite

What could be the reasons for this trend ?

Yes, I have noticed the same. Initially I thought testing would have increased down south. However, numbers don't agree with me.

Another hypothesis is that south India is in monsoon season leading to increase in normal cough, cold and fever etc. This probably is leading to more screening + detection.

I may be totally wrong about this, however.

[AZT]

Brilliant article out today chronicling the whole saga. Apparently their FMCG arm is losing a lot of market share and they just needed something which sells

How Patanjali’s magic didn’t work on covid

Besides overblown claims, the firm’s conduct has raised medico-legal issues. What was behind its tearing hurry?
It is struggling with market share losses in many FMCG categories and a cure for covid was just the panacea it needed. Now, this fiasco will impact the Ayurvedic medicines sector

...

But the next day, 23 June, witnessed a big, chest-thumping event at Patanjali Yogpeeth in Haridwar, one of India’s largest yoga institutes. Baba Ramdev, the founder of Patanjali, was flanked by eight people on a stage. Standing up, he chanted mantras as he launched Coronil and Swasari Vati as a “cure" for coronavirus. “I am proud to announce that corona’s first Ayurvedic clinically-controlled trial based, evidence-based, research-based medicine is ready," he said animatedly to applause. “Our Ayurvedic treatment is not only (for) control, it is cure (sic). We are proud to say that there is a 100% recovery rate in seven days and 0% death."
The “cure" claim opened up a Pandora’s box in little time.

...

The question then remains about the uniqueness around Patanjali’s Coronil. “These products are not new. These are classic combinations that have been used for many years to boost immunity. We cannot make a claim that it will help cure because that will require a lot more research," M. Ravi Kumar Reddy, Sri Sri Tattva’s chief scientific officer, told Mint.
Besides exaggerated claims, Patanjali’s conduct could have fallen short of both legal and ethical boundaries. The company picked speed over scientific rigour, fuelling doubts on the quality of its clinical trials. In its application of clinical trial with the Clinical Trials Registry of India (CTRI), the company declared that its first patient was enrolled on 29 May. The estimated duration of trial mentioned two months but by 23 June, Patanjali was ready with the medicine, its packaging and marketing plans.
At the conference, Ramdev said the medicines would be available in seven days and an app had been readied to order home deliveries. Most of the other trials have a far longer time window—the Dabur study, which involves multiple sites, declared that the estimated duration of trail is eight months.

“Purely from a process point of view, it (the Patanjali claim) makes a mockery of drug regulation in India. I don’t understand what is the point of having the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, which provides for criminal prosecution," Dinesh S. Thakur, a public health activist and an expert in drug regulation, said. “In this case, there is a clear violation of the law because the company went on television and said they have a 100% cure for covid-19. Ramdev didn’t say he had promising early stage results," he added.

...

Patanjali chose to partner the National Institute of Medical Sciences and Research (NIMS), which is part of the university, for its clinical trial. NIMS is an allopathic institute and the principal and co-investigators are both allopathic doctors without expertise in Ayurveda medicine. The university, nevertheless, has often courted controversy. In 2016, chairman Balvir S. Tomar was arrested by the Jharkhand police on attempt to rape charges. And in 2017, the Supreme Court ordered demolition of illegal construction on land the university encroached—the encroachments, the court noted, had impacted Ramgarh Lake, a reservoir of water supply to Jaipur city.

...

The problem is that Patanjali, after many promising years, appears to have lost ground in many FMCG segments. Not just Unilever, ITC and Dabur are doing better too, going by market data. Traditional FMCG companies have both protected their markets and clawed back any market share lost. Patanjali’s revenue and profit growth trajectory reflects this changing market dynamics.

...

Kantar, a consulting company, tracks household consumption. In 2019-20, Patanjali de-grew nearly 15% in both urban and rural households in terms of volumes over the previous year. In the same period, ITC grew 18% and HUL 8%. The average monthly consumption of Patanjali products stood at 2kg during the year. In comparison, the average consumption of HUL’s products were six times higher and three times bigger for ITC. Even in rural markets, Patanjali has significantly dropped in volumes.

...

Technopak, pointed out that the company no longer has strong relationships with retailers. Patanjali overestimated their brand value and their ability to dictate terms to the market. The analyst estimated that in 2016, there were about 4,700 exclusive stores selling Patanjali products. This has shrunk to about 1,900 now.

All this has piled up pressure on Patanjali to break new ground with its products, show innovation and demonstrate speed. This perhaps explains why the company jumped the gun with its covid cure. And, the way it was handled has become a negative for the ayurveda medicines business, analysts said.

“What we need is a system to evaluate the safety and efficacy of Ayurvedic drugs. Just like clinical trials are used to develop evidence of benefit-risk for chemicals and biological medicines, there ought to be a method, a process to evaluate how Ayurvedic drugs actually work," Dinesh Thakur said.
The Patanjali fiasco could just be that trigger to set things in order.

Read More: https://www.livemint.com/news/india/...527233719.html