Wuhan Virus Watch: New Study to Probe Ventilator Use Amid High Coronavirus Death Rate

Wuhan Virus Watch: New Study to Probe Ventilator Use Amid High Coronavirus Death Rate

During the initial phase of the Wuhan Coronavirus epidemic in this county, there was a significant emphasis on ventilator production and distribution.

Now, New York’s most extensive hospital system is planning to conduct a robust study of its use of ventilators while treating coronavirus patients to determine if they were effective…or made the situation worse.

The study comes as experts have raised concerns that an over-reliance on the machines may have actually cost lives.

For so many sick COVID-19 patients, getting attached to a mechanical ventilator was a death sentence. More than two-thirds of the patients in Northwell Health facilities hooked to ventilators died in March and early April and the fatality rate was similar at other hospitals.

At the beginning of the pandemic, health officials were worried whether there would be a shortage of ventilators to intubate COVID patients with serious breathing and lung problems. But then discussion in the medical community turned to whether the machines were being overused and possibly contributing to a higher death rate.

“One theory is if you put some patients on a ventilator, you might irritate the lungs more. That’s a theory we’re looking at,” Dr. Thomas McGinn, Northwell’s senior vice president and deputy physician-in-chief, told The Post.

The Overlooked Disparity: Coronavirus Kills Mostly Men

As medical professionals have time to review all the data related to coronavirus infections, it appears that men were more vulnerable to fatal complications.

The U.S. male-to-female ratio of confirmed Covid-19 deaths is running about 54 to 46, but the imbalance is much greater among younger people, meaning men are losing many more years of life.

Global Health 50/50, a group devoted to equality of the sexes in health, finds that “in most countries, available data indicates that men have been upwards of 50% more likely to die following diagnosis than women.” The disparity probably has several causes. In the U.S., men have more health problems to begin with but get less medical care. And women appear to have stronger immune systems.

New hydroxychloroquine study: Early outpatient treatment is the most effective

While the “Trump-touted” hydroxychloroquine isn’t a cure-all, the evidence indicates that it can be helpful when given during the early stages of infection.

According to a new study published in American Journal of Epidemiology, early outpatient treatment is the most effective for treatment of coronavirus patients. The study, which was led by Dr. Harvey A Risch of Yale University, suggests that late stage studies missed the point about effective usage of hydroxychloroquine. Dr. Risch says immediate and early ramping-up of treatment for high-risk COVID-19 patients is key to controlling the coronavirus pandemic crisis.

To date, more than 1.6 million Americans have been infected with SARS-CoV-2 and >10 times that number carry antibodies to it. High-risk patients presenting with progressing symptomatic disease have only hospitalization treatment with its high mortality.

According to the abstract of the study, which has not yet been peer-reviewed, Dr. Risch said an outpatient treatment that prevents hospitalization is desperately needed. To date, two candidate medications have been widely discussed: remdesivir, and hydroxychloroquine+azithromycin. “Remdesivir has shown mild effectiveness in hospitalized inpatients, but no trials have been registered in outpatients. Hydroxychloroquine+azithromycin has been widely misrepresented in both clinical reports and public media, and outpatient trials results are not expected until September,” Dr. Harvey A Risch of Yale University, said.

Protest gatherings spark concerns about spreading COVID-19

Public officials, noting the lack of social distancing and masks, are now concerned about the spread of coronavirus in the wake of “protests.”

Officials around the country have said they are concerned that mass gatherings in the wake of George Floyd’s death will contribute to the spread of COVID-19.

On Sunday’s episode of Meet the Press, Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser expressed her fears about the potential for a jump in coronavirus cases in her city.

“In fact I’m so concerned about it that I’m urging everybody to consider their exposure if they need to isolate from their family members when they go home and if they need to be tested, because we have worked very hard to blunt the curve,” Bowser said. She noted that only some demonstrators practiced social distancing and wore face masks.

I am thinking people who loot and riot aren’t going to self-isolate and get followup tests.

New coronavirus losing potency, top Italian doctor says

An Italian doctor says that the novel coronavirus is losing its potency and has become much less lethal.

“In reality, the virus clinically no longer exists in Italy,” said Alberto Zangrillo, the head of the San Raffaele Hospital in Milan in the northern region of Lombardy, which has borne the brunt of Italy’s coronavirus contagion.

“The swabs that were performed over the last 10 days showed a viral load in quantitative terms that was absolutely infinitesimal compared to the ones carried out a month or two months ago,” he told RAI television.

Italy has the third highest death toll in the world from COVID-19, with 33,415 people dying since the outbreak came to light on Feb. 21. It has the sixth highest global tally of cases at 233,019.

However new infections and fatalities have fallen steadily in May and the country is unwinding some of the most rigid lockdown restrictions introduced anywhere on the continent.

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