Mechanism of Action of Chloroquine/Hydroxychloroquine for Covid-19 Infection

Background: The recent serious outbreak of Covid-19 has required urgent medical treat-ments for numerous patients. No clinically active vaccines or antiviral agents are available for Covid-19. According to several studies, Chloroquine (CQ) and Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) have shown potential as Covid-19 antivirals, especially when administered with Azithromycin (AZM). Objective(s): Here, we review the rationale behind this use. CQ/HCQ is effective against Covid-19 in--vitro and in-vivo laboratory studies. Therapy in Covid-19 infected patients with CQ/HCQ is supported by evidence of trials and field experiences from multiple sources. Method(s): The relevant works are reviewed. The presence or absence of conflict of interest is weighed against the conclusions. Result(s): CQ/HCQ has been used with success in mild cases or medium severity cases. No randomized controlled trial has, however, been conducted to support the safety and efficacy of CQ/HCQ and AZM for Covid-19. Prophylaxis with CQ/HCQ is more controversial but generally not having side effects and supported by pre-clinical studies. The mechanism of action against Covid-19 is unclear. More research is needed to understand the mechanisms of actions CQ/HCQ has against Covid-19 infection, and this requires investigations with nanoscale imaging of viral infection of host cells. Conclusion(s): Most of the published works indicate CQ/HCQ is likely effective against Covid-19 in-fection, almost 100% in prophylaxis and mild to medium severity cases, and 60% in late infection cases. The percentage of positive works is larger if works conducted under a probable conflict of interest are excluded from the list.Copyright © 2021 Bentham Science Publishers.

Perspectives of hydrogen aviation

The perspective of hydrogen (H-2) aviation is discussed. While production of carbon dioxide (CO2) free renewable H-2 is progressing towards costs comparable to those of today's steam reforming of methane, at about 1-1.5 $ per kg H-2, the development of specific aviation infrastructure, as well as aircraft, is still in its infancy. Over the 21 years of this century, the most important manufacturers have only proposed preliminary studies, artist impressions more than detailed engineering studies. The major technical challenge is the fueling and safe and efficient storage of the H-2, requiring a complete redesign of infrastructure and aircraft. From a political perspective, negative is the speculation on the global warming potential of contrails, and the covid19 pandemic which has largely disrupted the aviation sector, with the future of mass transport at risk of drastic downsizing Especially the "great reset" agenda, limiting mass transport also for other goals than the simple control of viral spreading during the pandemic, may harm the deployment of H-2 aviation, as elite aviation does not motivate huge investments in the use of a non-exhaustible fuel such as renewable H-2, leaving favored alternatives such as hydrocarbon jet fuels, and in the longer term electric aviation.

Quercetin Supplementation and COVID-19

Quercetin is an antioxidant, detox, and anti-inflammatory agent, which may help lower inflammation as well as reduce toxic effects. It has been argued that vaccines have potential risks of local and systemic inflammatory responses and toxic effects of synthetic nucleosides and components for vaccine delivery. Administration of substances such as Quercetin may then mitigate these effects. It has similarly been argued that substances such as Quercetin may reduce the efficacy of vaccines, which works in building an immune response to produce antibodies. Under this other perspective, the assumption of Quercetin should be avoided when receiving vaccines. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the information available to understand if Quercetin may mitigate the damage from novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines, or also reduce their efficacy. © The Author(s) 2021.

Cycle threshold as a measure of infectivity from Covid-19 PCR tests

The Covid-19 polymerase-chain-reaction (PCR) test run with a cycle threshold of 40 returns as positive also cases of patients only having a small number of viral fragments in the sample. This produces an overrated number of those who are considered infected. It is suggested to always include the cycle number for positivity in the test result, as well as to lower the cycle threshold to 30-35 for more appropriate detection of those contagious.

Safety and efficacy of chloroquine/hydroxychloroquine in sars-cov-2 infection

This work summarizes the available evidence of the use of chloroquine/hydroxychloroquine (CQ/HCQ) in SARS-CoV-2 infection. Most of the published works indicate CQ/HCQ is likely effective against SARS-CoV-2 infection, almost 100% in prophylaxis and mildmedium severity cases and 60% in late infection cases. The percentage of positive works is larger if those works conducted under a probable conflict of interest are excluded from the list. Despite this overwhelming evidence from independent studies, the use of CQ/HCQ is currently limited or prevented in many western countries, based on a very singular examination of the science. The case of a work published in late May 2020, despite being openly defective and then retracted, prompted the World Health Organization (WHO) to ban the use of CQ/HCQ. This position has not yet rectified, thanks to the results of the not less questionable RECOVERY trial, where very sick patients were administered more than double the dose, over more than double the time, recommended for asymptomatic patients in current protocols of other countries, where CQ/HCQ are used for asymptomatic and mild but not severe pneumonia critically ill patients. While the case fatality rate does not depend only on therapies, it is finally shown based on the number of cases and fatalities per million and the case fatality rate as the western countries enforcing the ban on CQ/HCQ did not perform better, but much worse, than other countries, also because of therapies. © 2021 Chemical Publishing Co.. All rights reserved.

Analysis of the performances of the Covid-19 therapeutic approaches in the United Arab Emirates

Objectives: To evaluate the performances of the therapeutic approaches adopted in the United Arab Emirates to fight Covid-19 infection. Methods: Statistical analysis of the number of cases and fatalities for the United Arab Emirates. The fatality rates are compared to those of reference countries adopting different approaches. Results: The United Arab Emirates outperformed the reference countries with a much smaller number of fatalities. While this number is not only driven by therapies, the different therapeutic approaches are the most important driver. Conclusions: Combination therapies arc most effective than single drug therapies. The use of antivirals especially in the early stages reduces the number of fatalities.