Issue link: https://www.ascpskindeepdigital.com/i/1235208
clarify the safety and effectiveness of using this method for COVID-19, and if results are promising, it may be recommended as a stop-gap method to provide a form of immunity on a grand scale until a proper vaccine can be developed. It is more effective when used for prevention, rather than in those already infected, and there are some known risks attached, which will be explored in the trials. Transfusion is not equivalent to, or a replacement for, a vaccine. Using plasma is a crude approach because with this method, the biotechnicians do not isolate the COVID-19-specific antibodies, but provide the patient with the full range of antibodies in the donor's plasma. This has two effects; it may water down the overall immune response, or it may confuse it. In addition, antibodies do not remain in the bloodstream permanently, but it may work as a temporary way to delay more infections and to protect frontline health- care workers until a vaccine emerges. Vaccines are altogether more sophisticated because they target specific aspects of the viral reproductive process and anatomy to stop it before it begins infecting host cells. However, the steps and time needed to produce a safe, effective vaccination may reach well into 2021, and despite the lengthy processes also needed to gain evidence and approval for the plasma method, it may be quicker and more effective if all the moving parts are able to coordinate.33 TRUE OR FALSE? COVID-19 is a bioweapon/ experimental virus that (somehow) escaped from a laboratory It's not just conspiracy theorists asking this question; even scientists have not shied away from it. "The Proximal Origin of SARS-CoV-2" published on March 17, 2020, in Nature Medicine provides the latest roundup of what is currently known. 34 This is a complex, copiously referenced, and carefully put together article that and a summary of all medications used and recommended by the National Health Commission in China during the peak of the outbreak. While illuminating, this document clearly outlines a process of trial and error, conceding that full trials have not been conducted regarding the safety and efficacy of these drugs, and concluding that far more detailed research is necessary before any of these can be considered as a standard and effective treatment. 29 Finally, a recent review document listed all known trials currently under way and at various phases as of March 12, 2020. 30 It is worth remembering that all reputable clinical trials should bear database registration numbers and follow the most stringent international reporting guidelines if they are to be considered reliable. 31 Currently, there is no evidence available from full-scale controlled trials to clarify whether any of these medications or their combinations are safe and effective, as most of them so far have failed to stand up to robust testing. There have been several reports of people self-medicating and taking fatal overdoses of chloroquine since these trials were first reported on, in an extreme example of why so much care is needed with science reporting, and with interpreting the quality and content of what is presented as evidence. 32 TRUE OR FALSE? COVID-19 antibodies are the cure! This is one of the oldest methods used over a century ago to slow down outbreaks and epidemics. Decades ago, the blood of patients who had successfully convalesced from a disease (such as measles) was used, sometimes as crudely as by direct transfusion, to provide antibodies to those who had not yet caught it, in a form of primitive vaccination known as "convalescent plasma" or convalescent sera. More modern techniques would involve isolating the serum or plasma alone—a simple, easy, and safe technique. A clinical trial is about to commence at Johns Hopkins to