COVID-19 Update: Wednesday, July 22

Zinc, hydroxychloroquine, 3M, vaccines, long-term effects, and kids&COVID

1. More on Zinc, the NIH has issued a statement about Zinc – it should not be used above the daily recommended allowance and should not be considered a treatment. It is important to note that Zinc is recognized as beneficial for possibly reducing severity of disease but will not prevent disease and can be toxic in large amounts. Diet is the best source.

2. Several studies have come out recently that show that hydroxychloroquine does not have any benefit. One randomized control trial (available through Medscape-dated July 17th) was done on non-hospitalized patients with mild symptoms found it did not have any statistically significant benefits in recovery. Another randomized control trial out of Spain (300 patients –) also found no benefit and a third study (RECOVERY – a partnership of the NIH and the UK on 4500 hospitalized patients found it did not reduce mortality and was associated with increased hospitalization time, increased risk of dying and increased risk of needing a ventilator.

3. 3M and MIT have partnered to develop an antigen test that would work similar to a pregnancy test and provide results in minutes. They are hoping to have the test ready by late summer.

4. More than 100 potential COVID-19 vaccines are in development right now with at least 20 in human clinical trials.

5. Some people who have recovered from COVID are experiencing “long-term” effects. (note the quotes there – we haven’t have long enough to have truly long term effects, but long term as far as what we have seen so far) Brain fog, reduced endurance (meaning they tire easily), short term memory problems, trouble reading, speaking and writing, breathlessness and muscle pain, and damage to the testicles are some of the complaints. These are making returning to work a challenge. It is worth noting here that this is by no means everyone – just something that we are seeing. Some people will get COVID and not get that sick. They will recover quickly and move on. Others will be moderately ill and it will seem to linger for weeks, perhaps even a month. And of course, some will have severe cases. Despite which form one gets, there are concerns regarding what level of damage their tissues may have experienced that we don’t know about – (consider Sept. 11th and how it was years until we began to see the long term health effects experienced) -this can be true even for those who experience mild or no symptoms. We need to assess the disease based on more than mortality alone.

6. A study conducted in South Korea and published in the CDC-journal Emerging Infectious Diseases reports that children ages 10-19 can transmit COVID as easily as adults. Suggesting the limited transmission suspected among children is only in those under 10. More research is needed to know for sure, but we don’t want to assume that children cannot spread it. In related news, Texas is reporting an increase of cases among infants (those under 1) with reports that one county has had 85 cases in infants (I have not been able to independently verified this). The CDC is reporting that 4.4% of total cases are now children and the first case of COVID related development of Guillain-Barre syndrome has been reported in a child (published in the Journal of Pediatric Infectious Disease and available pre-print via the NIH). Post-COVID development of Guillain-Barre had been seen previously in adults but not children.

FINAL THOUGHTS: We have reached the middle of the week and you have tried to be kind, hold your tongue and to respect other people’s opinions, even if you weren’t always successful. And is it me, or does it seem like the harder you try the more challenging it becomes? Like ridiculous, frustrating things just creep out of the woodwork determined to sabotage your efforts? It can be exhausting. You can feel drained, emotionally fragile, and exhausted from the effort. Combine that with the stress so many are facing regarding sending their children to school and/or returning themselves, increased cases around the country, plenty of bad news everywhere and general life – and you have a great mix for burnout. So today I want to encourage you to take a day of active recovery. Keep being kind, keep respecting others rights to their opinions (you don’t have to agree with them – or validate wrong information, just respect their right to have that opinion) and keep moving forward, but cut yourself some slack today. Give yourself the same kindness you have been showing others. Look at that “to do” list and see what you can remove. Take a break in the middle of the day and do something relaxing for just a bit. Go for ice-cream at lunch, get the flavored coffee, blast music a little too loud, something, anything that will give you that extra little support you need to keep fighting the good fight. Don’t be so hard on yourself, reduce your expectations for productivity, let yourself off the hook a bit, say no when you need to. Because you cannot love others properly if you haven’t loved yourself first. So today, show yourself some love whatever that may look like for you and know that you are doing the best you can in the situation where you are.