COVID Transmissions for 8-5-2020
Greetings from an undisclosed location in my hotel room.
It has been 262 days since the first documented human case of COVID-19.
Housekeeping note:
Just one headline today; a great article rounding up evidence around hydroxychloroquine. If you’re in an area affected by the tropical storm, please stay safe.
Glossary terms are bolded words with links to the running newsletter glossary.
If you like what you see—or what you might see in the future—tell others about it so the newsletter continues to grow:
Now, let’s talk COVID.
Hydroxychloroquine evidence roundup
As Science News tells us, hydroxychloroquine is the most studied drug for efficacy against COVID-19, and unfortunately, much of that effort appears to have been wasted: https://www.sciencenews.org/article/covid-19-coronavirus-hydroxychloroquine-no-evidence-treatment
While several major trials of this drug have shown either a disadvantage, or at least no benefit, for patients taking it, there have been some small benefits described in other studies. Unfortunately, as this article illustrates, these are usually either very small effect sizes or are explicable by flaws in study design.
It’s time to put this medication aside in favor of other options, for which there is better evidence.
What am I doing to cope with the pandemic? This:
Vacation
We toured around the western shore of Seneca Lake today, but it was rainy and not very conducive to photos.
Join the conversation, and what you say will impact what I talk about in the next issue.
Also, I welcome any feedback on structure and content. I want this to be as useful as possible, and I can only make that happen with constructive comments.
This newsletter will contain mistakes. When you find them, tell me about them so that I can fix them. I would rather this newsletter be correct than protect my ego.
Though I can’t correct the emailed version after it has been sent, I do update the online post of the newsletter every time a mistake is brought to my attention.
No corrections since last issue.
See you all next time.
Always,
JS