There is endless talk about the impending vaccine and its promise to protect the population from Covid-19. In addition to my thought that massive, frequent testing is the most expedient way out of this public health crisis, I strongly believe that waiting for the vaccine is not the best strategy for helping society. Most vaccines take 2-5 years to develop and distribute. The Covid-19 vaccine is being “fast tracked” and scientists all over the world are contributing their efforts. In the event that this vaccine will be available in 12-18 months or even sooner, will that “fast track” compromise safety…
Author: Brett Johnson
E25Bio, a Cambridge, Massachusetts-based biotech startup that develops diagnostic tests for infectious diseases like dengue and Zika, has a new rapid antigen test for Covid-19. The company’s technologies grew out of an MIT lab led by Lee Gehrke, Professor at the Institute for Medical Engineering and Science (IMES), and Irene Bosch, then a research scientist at IMES. The startup recently raised $2 million from investors to specifically develop and manufacture testing kits for Covid-19. E25Bio’s rapid diagnostic test resembles an over-the-counter pregnancy test and provides visual results within 15 minutes by detecting the presence of the virus in the patient sample. As a point…
Top Israeli prof claims simple stats show virus plays itself out after 70 days A prominent Israeli mathematician, analyst and former general claims simple statistical analysis demonstrates that the spread of COVID-19 peaks after about 40 days and declines to almost zero after 70 days — no matter where it strikes, and no matter what measures governments impose to try to thwart it. Prof Isaac Ben-Israel, head of the Security Studies program in Tel Aviv University and the chairman of the National Council for Research and Development, told Israel’s Channel 12 (Hebrew) Monday night that research he conducted with a…
COVID-19 drug development is the research process to develop a therapeutic prescription drug that would alleviate the severity of 2019-20 coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Internationally as of March 2020, some 100 firms, university research groups, and health organizations were involved in stages of vaccine or drug development. The World Health Organization (WHO), European Medicines Agency (EMA), US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the Chinese government and drug manufacturers were coordinating with academic and industry researchers to speed development of vaccines, antiviral drugs, and monoclonal antibody therapies. By late March, 536 clinical studies were registered with the World Health Organization International Clinical Trials Registry Platform to develop post-infection therapies for COVID-19 infections, with numerous established antiviral compounds for treating…
Lack of materials needed to conduct tests gave labs a slow start Testing the right person is a crucial aspect in any pandemic. Apart from saving lives, widespread testing can provide important data required to model the course of the outbreak. Reagents are a critical component of testing. Unfortunately, many US labs have struggled to procure the reagents needed to perform large batches of coronavirus diagnostic testing. COVID-19 testing in the US In the US, the CDC provides the test kits for public health laboratories (PHLs) to perform real-time RT-polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR) detection of the novel coronavirus. The CDC…
The New York City Coronavirus briefing. Mayor De Blasio provides his weekly Friday summary. Key Metrics: People admitted to hospitals 136 (up from 129 April 29th). People currently in ICUs 704 (from 705). Percentage of People City Wide tested positive 23% (up from 22%). Percentage People for Public Health Labs. 17% (down from 36%) De Blasio: “Don’t count your chickens before they hatch. Yesterday 2,637 confirmed cases. 202 lost lives yesterday. Looking at these compared to two weeks ago is good, but if I had given you these numbers it is staggering.” “Biggest reality is that this will be a…
An Anti-body Test vs. Antigen Test vs. the Lateral Assay Test Tests for Covid-19 can be divided into polymerise chain reaction (PCR), serologic tests and soon lateral Assay tests. These tests use different kinds of samples to search for different hallmarks of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. PCR (polymerise chain reaction). We take a look at these different approaches and their relative merits. PCR Molecular Virus Test. The PCR test detects if the virus is there and someone is actively infected. genetic information of the virus, the RNA. By detecting viral RNA, which will be present in the body before antibodies form…
NYT Columnist Tom Friedman’s thoughtful piece on how to deal with Coronavirus seems to make the most sense of anything we’ve seen. In his 1500 word article he explores what Sweden is doing that may be the right balancing act. Below if our 500 word distillation. See full article. So what are they doing different? He starts by asking are we going to have a plan, like Sweden, or just have each of the 50 state wing it with their own approach. He spoke with Anders Tegnell, chief epidemiologist at Sweden’s Public Health Agency — the nation’s top infectious disease…