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Meleket
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ኣምላኽ ይተሓወሶ! A Dominican Microbiologist on a Possible Coronavirus Treatment

Post by Meleket » 02 Apr 2020, 10:13

A Dominican Microbiologist on a Possible Coronavirus Treatment
By Fr. Nicanor Austriaco, O.P., S.T.D, Ph.D.


I was struck by the attempts of these New York Times reporters https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/19/heal ... dobbVTMlPIto dismiss or minimize the impact of the possible use of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) to treat COVID-19.


As a molecular biologist, what is so exciting for me about this claim is that the clinical trial in France was pretty good, given the extreme circumstances. Yes, it was a small trial, but if you read the paper, it was rigorous for what it wanted to do, which is to be a pilot study. And it showed that HCQ significantly shortened the time for the patient to clear virus from his or her system.

Also noteworthy, a previous paper from a lab in China — again, it is so important that these are independent investigations — demonstrated that hydroxychloroquine can prevent viral reproduction in a test tube.

And they were able to provide a mechanism of action for this anti-viral activity, and it is a reasonable one. (For molecular biologists, mechanism makes all the difference in the world!) Briefly, it alters the pH of the parts of the cell necessary for viral reproduction.

The Chinese biologists made a prediction in their paper about patient use: “Therefore, with a safe dosage, HCQ concentration in the above tissues is likely to be achieved to inhibit SARS-CoV-2 infection.” This is a prediction that appears to have been borne out in the clinical study in France.

I am hopeful because the clinical study seems robust and it is backed up with molecular evidence for anti-viral function.

Finally, HCQ is very cheap and readily available: With a prescription, I could walk down the street to a Filipino pharmacy to buy a 200mg pill for PHP85 (which is the equivalent of $1.30). I know that they have it because I checked online. And this is in a random pharmacy in Manila! According to the study, taking three of these pills every day for six days would rid you of SARS-CoV2. And the side-effects for short-term use of HCQ are minimal. This for about $30.

In the end, despite what the NYT says, I am very optimistic about this development. I think that the headline is misleading. Yes, there is minimal evidence but that is not unexpected in a pandemic. But the minimal evidence is actually pretty solid, given the practical limits of doing clinical trials in a global crisis.

Yet, when both in vitro and in vivo studies converge, that is an optimistic sign. Especially when you have a mechanism of action that is reasonable and is in line with what we know about viral reproduction.

Finally, yes, it has to be tested by the FDA. But that is the point! But instead of poo-pooing this scientific discovery, I am going to pray that this will bear much fruit!

Scientific Papers:

CLINICAL TRIAL: https://www.mediterranee-infection.com/ ... loroquine-…/

IN VITRO WORK: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41421-020-0156-0


https://dominicanfriars.org/a-dominican ... KUnbnJQH8#
ኣምላኽ ይተሓወሶ!!!

Meleket
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Posts: 3044
Joined: 16 Feb 2018, 05:08

Re: ኣምላኽ ይተሓወሶ! A Dominican Microbiologist on a Possible Coronavirus Treatment

Post by Meleket » 02 Apr 2020, 10:54

አንዱ ጥናት ተምንጩ ሲቀዳ! https://www.nature.com/articles/s41421- ... NyUpPsBdw0

Hydroxychloroquine, a less toxic derivative of chloroquine, is effective in inhibiting SARS-CoV-2 infection in vitro
Jia Liu, Ruiyuan Cao, Mingyue Xu, Xi Wang, Huanyu Zhang, Hengrui Hu, Yufeng Li, Zhihong Hu, Wu Zhong & Manli Wang

Cell Discovery volume 6, Article number: 16 (2020) Cite this article
1.32m Accesses, 3 Citations, 3817 Altmetric Metricsdetails

Dear Editor,
The outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2/2019-nCoV) poses a serious threat to global public health and local economies. As of March 3, 2020, over 80,000 cases have been confirmed in China, including 2946 deaths as well as over 10,566 confirmed cases in 72 other countries. Such huge numbers of infected and dead people call for an urgent demand of effective, available, and affordable drugs to control and diminish the epidemic.

We have recently reported that two drugs, remdesivir (GS-5734) and chloroquine (CQ) phosphate, efficiently inhibited SARS-CoV-2 infection in vitro1. Remdesivir is a nucleoside analog prodrug developed by Gilead Sciences (USA). A recent case report showed that treatment with remdesivir improved the clinical condition of the first patient infected by SARS-CoV-2 in the United States2, and a phase III clinical trial of remdesivir against SARS-CoV-2 was launched in Wuhan on February 4, 2020. However, as an experimental drug, remdesivir is not expected to be largely available for treating a very large number of patients in a timely manner. Therefore, of the two potential drugs, CQ appears to be the drug of choice for large-scale use due to its availability, proven safety record, and a relatively low cost. In light of the preliminary clinical data, CQ has been added to the list of trial drugs in the Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Treatment of COVID-19 (sixth edition) published by National Health Commission of the People’s Republic of China.

CQ (N4-(7-Chloro-4-quinolinyl)-N1,N1-diethyl-1,4-pentanediamine) has long been used to treat malaria and amebiasis. However, Plasmodium falciparum developed widespread resistance to it, and with the development of new antimalarials, it has become a choice for the prophylaxis of malaria. In addition, an overdose of CQ can cause acute poisoning and death3. In the past years, due to infrequent utilization of CQ in clinical practice, its production and market supply was greatly reduced, at least in China. Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) sulfate, a derivative of CQ, was first synthesized in 1946 by introducing a hydroxyl group into CQ and was demonstrated to be much less (~40%) toxic than CQ in animals4. More importantly, HCQ is still widely available to treat autoimmune diseases, such as systemic lupus erythematosus and rheumatoid arthritis. Since CQ and HCQ share similar chemical structures and mechanisms of acting as a weak base and immunomodulator, it is easy to conjure up the idea that HCQ may be a potent candidate to treat infection by SARS-CoV-2. Actually, as of February 23, 2020, seven clinical trial registries were found in Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (http://www.chictr.org.cn) for using HCQ to treat COVID-19. Whether HCQ is as efficacious as CQ in treating SARS-CoV-2 infection still lacks the experimental evidence.

To this end, we evaluated the antiviral effect of HCQ against SARS-CoV-2 infection in comparison to CQ in vitro. First, the cytotoxicity of HCQ and CQ in African green monkey kidney VeroE6 cells (ATCC-1586) was measured by standard CCK8 assay, and the result showed that the 50% cytotoxic concentration (CC50) values of CQ and HCQ were 273.20 and 249.50 μM, respectively, which are not significantly different from each other (Fig. 1a). To better compare the antiviral activity of CQ versus HCQ, the dose–response curves of the two compounds against SARS-CoV-2 were determined at four different multiplicities of infection (MOIs) by quantification of viral RNA copy numbers in the cell supernatant at 48 h post infection (p.i.). The data summarized in Fig. 1a and Supplementary Table S1 show that, at all MOIs (0.01, 0.02, 0.2, and 0.eight), the 50% maximal effective concentration (EC50) for CQ (2.71, 3.81, 7.14, and 7.36 μM) was lower than that of HCQ (4.51, 4.06, 17.31, and 12.96 μM). The differences in EC50 values were statistically significant at an MOI of 0.01 (P < 0.05) and MOI of 0.2 (P < 0.001) (Supplementary Table S1). It is worth noting that the EC50 values of CQ seemed to be a little higher than that in our previous report (1.13 μM at an MOI of 0.05)1, which is likely due to the adaptation of the virus in cell culture that significantly increased viral infectivity upon continuous passaging. Consequently, the selectivity index (SI = CC50/EC50) of CQ (100.81, 71.71, 38.26, and 37.12) was higher than that of HCQ (55.32, 61.45, 14.41, 19.25) at MOIs of 0.01, 0.02, 0.2, and 0.8, respectively. These results were corroborated by immunofluorescence microscopy as evidenced by different expression levels of virus nucleoprotein (NP) at the indicated drug concentrations at 48 h p.i. (Supplementary Fig. S1). Taken together, the data suggest that the anti-SARS-CoV-2 activity of HCQ seems to be less potent compared to CQ, at least at certain MOIs.

Fig. 1: Comparative antiviral efficacy and mechanism of action of CQ and HCQ against SARS-CoV-2 infection in vitro.

a Cytotoxicity and antiviral activities of CQ and HCQ. The cytotoxicity of the two drugs in Vero E6 cells was determined by CCK-8 assays. Vero E6 cells were treated with different doses of either compound or with PBS in the controls for 1 h and then infected with SARS-CoV-2 at MOIs of 0.01, 0.02, 0.2, and 0.8. The virus yield in the cell supernatant was quantified by qRT-PCR at 48 h p.i. Y-axis represents the mean of percent inhibition normalized to the PBS group. The experiments were repeated twice. b, c Mechanism of CQ and HCQ in inhibiting virus entry. Vero E6 cells were treated with CQ or HCQ (50 μM) for 1 h, followed by virus binding (MOI = 10) at 4 °C for 1 h. Then the unbound virions were removed, and the cells were further supplemented with fresh drug-containing medium at 37 °C for 90 min before being fixed and stained with IFA using anti-NP antibody for virions (red) and antibodies against EEA1 for EEs (green) or LAMP1 for ELs (green). The nuclei (blue) were stained with Hoechst dye. The portion of virions that co-localized with EEs or ELs in each group (n > 30 cells) was quantified and is shown in b. Representative confocal microscopic images of viral particles (red), EEA1+EEs (green), or LAMP1+ ELs (green) in each group are displayed in c. The enlarged images in the boxes indicate a single vesicle-containing virion. The arrows indicated the abnormally enlarged vesicles. Bars, 5 μm. Statistical analysis was performed using a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) with GraphPad Prism (F = 102.8, df = 5,182, ***P < 0.001).

Both CQ and HCQ are weak bases that are known to elevate the pH of acidic intracellular organelles, such as endosomes/lysosomes, essential for membrane fusion5. In addition, CQ could inhibit SARS-CoV entry through changing the glycosylation of ACE2 receptor and spike protein6. Time-of-addition experiment confirmed that HCQ effectively inhibited the entry step, as well as the post-entry stages of SARS-CoV-2, which was also found upon CQ treatment (Supplementary Fig. S2). To further explore the detailed mechanism of action of CQ and HCQ in inhibiting virus entry, co-localization of virions with early endosomes (EEs) or endolysosomes (ELs) was analyzed by immunofluorescence analysis (IFA) and confocal microscopy. Quantification analysis showed that, at 90 min p.i. in untreated cells, 16.2% of internalized virions (anti-NP, red) were observed in early endosome antigen 1 (EEA1)-positive EEs (green), while more virions (34.3%) were transported into the late endosomal–lysosomal protein LAMP1+ ELs (green) (n > 30 cells for each group). By contrast, in the presence of CQ or HCQ, significantly more virions (35.3% for CQ and 29.2% for HCQ; P < 0.001) were detected in the EEs, while only very few virions (2.4% for CQ and 0.03% for HCQ; P < 0.001) were found to be co-localized with LAMP1+ ELs (n > 30 cells) (Fig. 1b, c). This suggested that both CQ and HCQ blocked the transport of SARS-CoV-2 from EEs to ELs, which appears to be a requirement to release the viral genome as in the case of SARS-CoV7.

Interestingly, we found that CQ and HCQ treatment caused noticeable changes in the number and size/morphology of EEs and ELs (Fig. 1c). In the untreated cells, most EEs were much smaller than ELs (Fig. 1c). In CQ- and HCQ-treated cells, abnormally enlarged EE vesicles were observed (Fig. 1c, arrows in the upper panels), many of which are even larger than ELs in the untreated cells. This is in agreement with previous report that treatment with CQ induced the formation of expanded cytoplasmic vesicles8. Within the EE vesicles, virions (red) were localized around the membrane (green) of the vesicle. CQ treatment did not cause obvious changes in the number and size of ELs; however, the regular vesicle structure seemed to be disrupted, at least partially. By contrast, in HCQ-treated cells, the size and number of ELs increased significantly (Fig. 1c, arrows in the lower panels).

Since acidification is crucial for endosome maturation and function, we surmise that endosome maturation might be blocked at intermediate stages of endocytosis, resulting in failure of further transport of virions to the ultimate releasing site. CQ was reported to elevate the pH of lysosome from about 4.5 to 6.5 at 100 μM9. To our knowledge, there is a lack of studies on the impact of HCQ on the morphology and pH values of endosomes/lysosomes. Our observations suggested that the mode of actions of CQ and HCQ appear to be distinct in certain aspects.
It has been reported that oral absorption of CQ and HCQ in humans is very efficient. In animals, both drugs share similar tissue distribution patterns, with high concentrations in the liver, spleen, kidney, and lung reaching levels of 200–700 times higher than those in the plasma10. It was reported that safe dosage (6–6.5 mg/kg per day) of HCQ sulfate could generate serum levels of 1.4–1.5 μM in humans11. Therefore, with a safe dosage, HCQ concentration in the above tissues is likely to be achieved to inhibit SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Clinical investigation found that high concentration of cytokines were detected in the plasma of critically ill patients infected with SARS-CoV-2, suggesting that cytokine storm was associated with disease severity12. Other than its direct antiviral activity, HCQ is a safe and successful anti-inflammatory agent that has been used extensively in autoimmune diseases and can significantly decrease the production of cytokines and, in particular, pro-inflammatory factors. Therefore, in COVID-19 patients, HCQ may also contribute to attenuating the inflammatory response. In conclusion, our results show that HCQ can efficiently inhibit SARS-CoV-2 infection in vitro. In combination with its anti-inflammatory function, we predict that the drug has a good potential to combat the disease. This possibility awaits confirmation by clinical trials. We need to point out, although HCQ is less toxic than CQ, prolonged and overdose usage can still cause poisoning. And the relatively low SI of HCQ requires careful designing and conducting of clinical trials to achieve efficient and safe control of the SARS-CoV-2 infection.

References
1. Wang, M. et al. Remdesivir and chloroquine effectively inhibit the recently emerged novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in vitro. Cell Res. 30, 269–271 (2020).
2. Holshue, M. L. et al. First case of 2019 novel coronavirus in the United States. N. Engl. J. Med.https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa2001191 (2020).
3. Weniger, H. Review of side effects and toxicity of chloroquine. Bull. World Health 79, 906 (1979).
4. McChesney, E. W. Animal toxicity and pharmacokinetics of hydroxychloroquine sulfate. Am. J. Med. 75, 11–18 (1983).
5. Mauthe, M. et al. Chloroquine inhibits autophagic flux by decreasing autophagosome-lysosome fusion. Autophagy 14, 1435–1455 (2018).
6. Savarino, A. et al. New insights into the antiviral effects of chloroquine. Lancet Infect. Dis. 6, 67–69 (2006).
7. Mingo, R. M. et al. Ebola virus and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus display late cell entry kinetics: evidence that transport to NPC1+ endolysosomes is a rate-defining step. J. Virol. 89, 2931–2943 (2015).
8. Zheng, N., Zhang, X. & Rosania, G. R. Effect of phospholipidosis on the cellular pharmacokinetics of chloroquine. J. Pharmacol. Exp. Ther.336, 661–671 (2011).
9. Ohkuma, S. & Poole, B. Fluorescence probe measurement of the intralysosomal pH in living cells and the perturbation of pH by various agents. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 75, 3327–3331 (1978).
10. Popert, A. J. Choloroquine: a review. Rheumatology 15, 235–238 (1976).
11. Laaksonen, A. L., Koskiahde, V. & Juva, K. Dosage of antimalarial drugs for children with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus. A clinical study with determination of serum concentrations of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine. Scand. J. rheumatol. 3, 103–108 (1974).
12. Huang, C. et al. Clinical features of patients infected with 2019 novel coronavirus in Wuhan, China. Lancet 395, 497–506 (2020).

Acknowledgements
We thank Professor Zhengli Shi and Dr. Xinglou Yang from Wuhan Institute of Virology and Professor Fei Deng from National Virus Resource Center for providing SARS-CoV-2 strain (nCoV-2019BetaCoV/Wuhan/WIV04/2019); Professor Xiulian Sun for kind help in statistical analysis; Professor Zhenhua Zheng for kindly providing the anti-LAMP1 rabbit polyclonal antibody; Prof. Zhengli Shi for kindly providing the anti-NP polyclonal antibody; Beijing Savant Biotechnology Co., ltd for kindly providing the anti-NP monoclonal antibody; Min Zhou and Xijia Liu for their assistance with this study; Jia Wu, Jun Liu, Hao Tang, and Tao Du from BSL-3 Laboratory and Dr. Ding Gao from the core faculty of Wuhan Institute of Virology for their critical support; Professor Gengfu Xiao, Professor Yanyi Wang and other colleagues of Wuhan Institute of Virology and Wuhan National Biosafety Laboratory for their excellent coordination; and Dr. Basil Arif for scientific editing of the manuscript. This work was supported in part by grants from the National Science and Technology Major Projects for “Major New Drugs Innovation and Development” (2018ZX09711003 to W.Z.), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31621061 to Z.H.), and the Hubei Science and Technology Project (2020FCA003 to Z.H.).

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Author notes

1. These authors contributed equally: Jia Liu, Ruiyuan Cao, Mingyue Xu
Affiliations
1. State Key Laboratory of Virology, Wuhan Institute of Virology, Center for Biosafety Mega-Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 430071, Wuhan, China
Jia Liu , Mingyue Xu, Xi Wang, Huanyu Zhang, Hengrui Hu, Yufeng Li, Zhihong Hu & Manli Wang
2. National Engineering Research Center for the Emergency Drug, Beijing Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, 100850, Beijing, China
Ruiyuan Cao & Wu Zhong
3. University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100049, Beijing, China
Mingyue Xu, Huanyu Zhang, Hengrui Hu & Yufeng Li

Contributions
Z.H., M.W., and W.Z. conceived and designed the experiments and provided the final approval of the manuscript. J.L., R.C., M.X., X.W., H.Z., H.H., and Y.L. participated in multiple experiments; all the authors analyzed the data. M.W., R.C., J.L., and Z.H. wrote the manuscript.
Corresponding authors
Correspondence to Zhihong Hu or Wu Zhong or Manli Wang.
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Liu, J., Cao, R., Xu, M. et al. Hydroxychloroquine, a less toxic derivative of chloroquine, is effective in inhibiting SARS-CoV-2 infection in vitro.Cell Discov 6, 16 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41421-020-0156-0
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Received24 February 2020
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DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41421-020-0156-0


ኣምላኽ ይተሓወሶ!!!

justo
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Posts: 3178
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Re: ኣምላኽ ይተሓወሶ! A Dominican Microbiologist on a Possible Coronavirus Treatment

Post by justo » 02 Apr 2020, 11:47

Meleket wrote:
02 Apr 2020, 10:13
A Dominican Microbiologist on a Possible Coronavirus Treatment
By Fr. Nicanor Austriaco, O.P., S.T.D, Ph.D.
ቁሩብ እንዶ ኣስፍሕ ኣብሎ እቲ ኣተሓሳስባኻ። ታሪኽ ኢልካ ናይ ዘመድካ። ፍትሒ ኢልካ ናይ ሃይማኖትካ። ጅግንነት ኢልካ ናይ ዓድኻ። መኣረምታ ናይ ስነ ጽሑፍ ኤርትራ ኢልካ ናይ ከባቢኻ ወሲኽካ ናይ ካልእ ኣጉዲልካ። ከምዚ ዓይነት ጥሩፍ ባህሪ እኮዩ ዘዳርቐና ዘሎ። ሰብ ከይዕዘበኒ ኢልካ ቅሩብ ዔብ ኣይትገብርን ዲኻ። ወይሲ እቲ ዓይንኻ ናትካ ጥራይ እዩ ዝርኢ እቲ እዝንኻ ናትካ ጥራዩ ዝሰምዕ። ታሪኽ ንጽሓፍ ከኣ ይበሃለለይ።

Next time, try to expand your views outside your immediate group, you will definitely find scientists that are not Dominicans, heroes that are not your uncles, history that belongs not only to your immediate neighbours.

Next time, I want you to tell us something about a hindu scientist, a buddhist wise man or taoist philanthropist, that is if you don't want to be generous to Eritreans outside your immediate group.

Don't waste your time replying to this, expecting a reply from me
Don't try to defend yourself and explain your behaviour to me, just look into yourself, see this as a brotherly feedback

Meleket
Member
Posts: 3044
Joined: 16 Feb 2018, 05:08

Re: ኣምላኽ ይተሓወሶ! A Dominican Microbiologist on a Possible Coronavirus Treatment

Post by Meleket » 02 Apr 2020, 12:00

ኣባው የጠቆሙን የፈረንሳዮቹን ጥናት ከምንጩ ለማንበብ
https://www.mediterranee-infection.com/ ... I_IJAA.pdf


የምርምሩ ርእስና 18ቱ ተመራማሪዎች ደግሞ እነኝህ ናቸው!

Hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin as a treatment of COVID-19: results of an openlabel non-randomized clinical trial

Philippe Gautreta,b$, Jean-Christophe Lagiera,c$, Philippe Parolaa,b, Van Thuan Hoanga,b,d, Line Meddeba, Morgane Mailhea, Barbara Doudiera, Johan Courjone,f,g, Valérie Giordanengoh, Vera Esteves Vieiraa, Hervé Tissot Duponta,c, Stéphane Honoréi,j, Philippe Colsona,c, Eric Chabrièrea,c, Bernard La Scolaa,c, Jean-Marc Rolaina,c, Philippe Brouquia,c, Didier Raoulta,c*.
a IHU-Méditerranée Infection, Marseille, France.
b Aix Marseille Univ, IRD, AP-HM, SSA, VITROME, Marseille, France.
c Aix Marseille Univ, IRD, APHM, MEPHI, Marseille, France.
d Thai Binh University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Thai Binh, Viet Nam
e Infectiologie, Hôpital de l’Archet, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Nice, Nice, France
f Université Côte d’Azur, Nice, France
g U1065, Centre Méditerranéen de Médecine Moléculaire, C3M, Virulence Microbienne et
Signalisation Inflammatoire, INSERM, Nice, France
h Department of Virology, Biological and Pathological Center, Centre Hospitalier
Universitaire de Nice, 06200 Nice, France.
i Service Pharmacie, Hôpital Timone, AP-HM, Marseille, France
j Laboratoire de Pharmacie Clinique, Aix Marseille Université, Marseille, France.
$equal work
*Corresponding author: Didier Raoult
[email protected]

Please cite this work as Gautret et al. (2020) Hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin as a treatment of
COVID‐19: results of an open‐label non‐randomized clinical trial. International Journal of
Antimicrobial Agents – In Press 17 March 2020 – DOI : 10.1016/j.ijantimicag.2020.105949


ኣምላኽ ይተሓወሶ!!!
justo wrote:
02 Apr 2020, 11:47
Meleket wrote:
02 Apr 2020, 10:13
A Dominican Microbiologist on a Possible Coronavirus Treatment
By Fr. Nicanor Austriaco, O.P., S.T.D, Ph.D.
... ናይ ካልእ ኣጉዲልካ።...
ኃወይ justo፡ . . . ናይ መን ኢየ ኣጉዲለ እስከ ንገረኒ! ክእረመሉ። ንስኻ ተመሳሳሊ ካልእ መጽናዕታዊ ጽሑፍ ዘጓነፈካ አምጽእ እሞ ክንመሃረሉ።

ምስ ብዙሕ ሰላምታ!

Meleket
Member
Posts: 3044
Joined: 16 Feb 2018, 05:08

Re: ኣምላኽ ይተሓወሶ! A Dominican Microbiologist on a Possible Coronavirus Treatment

Post by Meleket » 03 Apr 2020, 04:29

“ተማር ልጄ ተማር ልጄ፡
ወገን ዘመድ የለኝ ሃብት የለኝም በጄ . . . ላልተማረ ሰው ግን ቀኑ ጨለማ ነው!” ድንቁ ድምጻሚ አለማየሁ እሸቴ


Rediscover Catholicism
MATTHEW KELLY
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Prologue
Imagine this. You're driving home from work next Monday after a long day. You turn on your radio and you hear a brief report about a small village in India where some people have suddenly died, strangely, of a flu that has never been seen before. It's not influenza, but four people are dead, so the Centers for Disease Control is sending some doctors to India to investigate.

You don't think too much about it — people die every day — but coming home from church the following Sunday you hear another report on the radio, only now they say it's not four people who have died, but thirty thousand, in the back hills of India. Whole villages have been wiped out and experts confirm this flu is a strain that has never been seen before.

By the time you get up Monday morning, it's the lead story. The disease is spreading. It's not just India that is affected. Now it has spread to Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, and northern Africa, but it still seems far away. Before you know it, you're hearing this story everywhere. The media have now coined it "the mystery flu." The President has announced that he and his family are praying for the victims and their families, and are hoping for the situation to be resolved quickly. But everyone is wondering how we are ever going to contain it.


That's when the President of France makes an announcement that shocks Europe: He is closing the French borders. No one can enter the country, and that's why that night you're watching a little bit of CNN before going to bed. Your jaw hits your chest when a weeping woman's words are translated into English from a French news program: There's a man lying in a hospital in Paris dying of the mystery flu. It has come to Europe.

Panic strikes. As best they can tell, after contracting the disease, you have it for a week before you even know it, then you have four days of unbelievable symptoms, and then you die.

The British close their borders, but it's too late. The disease breaks out in Southampton, Liverpool, and London, and on Tuesday morning the President of the United States makes the following announcement: "Due to a national security risk, all flights to and from the United States have been canceled. If your loved ones are overseas, I'm sorry. They cannot come home until we find a cure for this horrific disease."

Within four days, America is plunged into an unbelievable fear. People are wondering, What if it comes to this country? Preachers on television are saying it's the scourge of God. Then on Tuesday night you are at church for Bible study, when somebody runs in from the parking lot and yells, "Turn on a radio!" And while everyone listens to a small radio, the announcement is made: Two women are lying in a hospital in New York City dying of the mystery flu. It has come to America.

Within hours the disease envelops the country. People are working around the clock, trying to find an antidote, but nothing is working. The disease breaks out in California, Oregon, Arizona, Florida, Massachusetts. It's as though it's just sweeping in from the borders.

Then suddenly the news comes out: The code has been broken. A cure has been found. A vaccine can be made. But it's going to take the blood of somebody who hasn't been infected. So you and I are asked to do just one thing: Go to the nearest hospital and have our blood tested. When we hear the sirens go off in our neighborhood, we are to make our way quickly, quietly, and safely to the hospital.

Sure enough, by the time you and your family get to the hospital it's late Friday night. There are long lines of people and a constant rush of doctors and nurses taking blood and putting labels on it. Finally, it is your turn. You go first, then your spouse and children follow, and once the doctors have taken your blood they say to you, "Wait here in the parking lot for your name to be called." You stand around with your family and neighbors, scared, waiting, wondering. Wondering quietly to yourself, What on earth is going on here? Is this the end of the world? How did it ever come to this?

Nobody seems to have had their name called; the doctors just keep taking people's blood. But then suddenly a young man comes running out of the hospital, screaming. He's yelling a name and waving a clipboard. You don't hear him at first. "What's he saying?" someone asks. The young man screams the name again as he and a team of medical staff run in your direction, but again you cannot hear him. But then your son tugs on your jacket and says, "Daddy, that's me. That's my name they're calling." Before you know it, they have grabbed your boy. "Wait a minute. Hold on!" you say, running after them. "That's my son."

"It's okay," they reply. "We think he has the right blood type. We just need to check one more time to make sure he doesn't have the disease."

Five tense minutes later, out come the doctors and nurses, crying and hugging each another; some of them are even laughing. It's the first time you have seen anybody laugh in a week. An old doctor walks up to you and your spouse and says, "Thank you. Your son's blood is perfect. It's clean, it's pure, he doesn't have the disease, and we can use it to make the vaccine."

As the news begins to spread across the parking lot, people scream and pray and laugh and cry. You can hear the crowd erupting in the background as the gray-haired doctor pulls you and your spouse aside to say, "I need to talk to you. We didn't realize that the donor would be a minor and we . . . we need you to sign a consent form."

The doctor presents the form and you quickly begin to sign it, but then your eye catches something. The box for the number of pints of blood to be taken is empty.

"How many pints?" you ask. That is when the old doctor's smile fades, and he says, "We had no idea it would be a child. We weren't prepared for that."

You ask him again, "How many pints?" The old doctor looks away and says regretfully, "We are going to need it all!"

"But I don't understand. What do you mean you need it all? He's my only son!"

The doctor grabs you by the shoulders, pulls you close, looks you straight in the eyes, and says, "We are talking about the whole world here. Do you understand? The whole world. Please, sign the form. We need to hurry!"

"But can't you give him a transfusion?" you plead.

"If we had clean blood we would, but we don't. Please, will you sign the form?"

I have spent hundreds of hours reflecting on where we are in our journey as a Church, and one thing that has become startlingly clear is that we have forgotten our story.

What would you do?

In numb silence you sign the form because you know it's the only thing to do. Then the doctor says to you, "Would you like to have a moment with your son before we get started?"

Could you walk into that hospital room where your son sits on a table saying, "Daddy? Mommy? What's going on?" Could you tell your son you love him? And when the doctors and nurses come back in and say, "I'm sorry, we've got to get started now; people all over the world are dying," could you leave? Could you walk out while your son is crying out to you, "Mom? Dad? What's going on? Where are you going? Why are you leaving? Why have you abandoned me?"

The following week, they hold a ceremony to honor your son for his phenomenal contribution to humanity … but some people sleep through it, others don't even bother to come because they have better things to do, and some people come with a pretentious smile and pretend to care, while others sit around and say, "This is boring!" Wouldn't you want to stand up and say, "Excuse me! I'm not sure if you are aware of it or not, but the amazing life you have, my son died so that you could have that life. My son died so that you could live. He died for you. Does it mean nothing to you?"

Perhaps that is what God wants to say.

Father, seeing it from your eyes should break our hearts. Maybe now we can begin to comprehend the great love you have for us.

Where to from Here?
The past several years have been a tough time to be Catholic in America. In many ways this is a time of tragedy for the Church. The abuse of our children is a tragedy. The scandal of the cover-up is a tragedy. The fact that the entire priesthood has been tarnished by a small group of troubled priests is a tragedy. The absence of bold and authentic leadership is a tragedy. Morale is low and the number of Catholics leaving the Church is higher than ever before. The effects of all these tragedies are far reaching. They have left society at large with a very low opinion of Catholicism and caused many Catholics to be ashamed of the Church.

I have spent hundreds of hours reflecting on where we are in our journey as a Church, and one thing that has become startlingly clear is that we have forgotten our story.

Catholicism is more than a handful of priests who don't know what it means to be a priest. There are 1.2 billion Catholics in the world. There are sixty-seven million Catholics in America — that's at least fifteen million more people than it takes to elect an American president. And every single day the Catholic Church feeds, houses, and clothes more people, takes care of more sick people, visits more prisoners, and educates more people than any other institution on the face of the earth could ever hope to.

Consider this question: When Jesus was alive, where were the sick people? Were they in hospitals? Of course not; there were no hospitals at the time of Christ. The sick were huddled at the side of the road and on the outskirts of town, and that is where Jesus cured them. They had been abandoned by family and friends who were afraid that they would also become sick.

The very essence of health care and caring for the sick emerged through the Church, through the religious orders, in direct response to the value and dignity that the Gospel assigns to each and every human life.

Allow me another question: How many people do you know who were born to nobility? Men and woman whose parents are kings, queens, dukes, earls, duchesses, knights, and so on? Not many, I suspect, and probably none. Well, that is the number of educated people you would know if the Catholic Church had not championed the cause to make education available to everyone. Prior to the Church's introduction of education for the common man, education was reserved only for the nobility. Almost the entire Western world is educated today because of the Church's pioneering role in universal education.

The global reach and contribution of the Church is enormous, but the national impact of the Church on every aspect of society is also impressive, though largely unknown. In the United States alone the Catholic Church educates 2.6 million students every day, at a cost of ten billion dollars a year to parents and parishes. If there were no Catholic schools these same students would have to be educated in public schools, which would cost eighteen billion dollars. The Catholic education system alone saves American taxpayers eighteen billion dollars a year.

In the field of secondary education the Church has more than 230 colleges and universities in the U.S., with an enrollment of seven hundred thousand students. And the Catholic and non-Catholic students educated in our schools and colleges go on to occupy many of the highest positions in any field. In terms of health care, the Catholic Church has a nonprofit hospital system comprising 637 hospitals, which treat one in five patients in the United States every day.

Beyond our national and global impact, the local contribution Catholics make in every community, on a daily basis, is nothing short of remarkable. Every city and town has its own stories, but allow me just one example to make my point. In Chicago there are hundreds of Catholic organizations that serve the needs of the people of that city. One of those organizations is Catholic Charities. This year the local chapter of Catholic Charities in Chicago will provide 2.2 million free meals to the hungry and the needy in that area. That's 6,027 meals a day — just one small example of our enormous contribution. Every city has a hundred stories like this one.


Our contribution on a local, national, and global scale remains phenomenal even in spite of our faults, inefficiencies, and recent scandals, and yet the Church is despised by millions of ordinary Americans, while most Catholics want to crawl under the table when people start talking about the Church in a social setting. We have forgotten our story and as a result we allow the anti-Catholic segments of the media to distort our story on a daily basis.

The tragedy continues on another level as well. It is disturbing that at a time when millions of Catholics are angry and disillusioned with the Church there has been no significant effort to remind Catholics of who we really are, no strategic effort to raise our morale among Catholics, no organized effort to remind the world that, for the past two thousand years, wherever you find Catholics, you find a group of people making enormous contributions to the local, national, and international community.

This book is the beginning of our attempt to raise morale among Catholics, remind ourselves that there is genius in Catholicism, and engage disengaged Catholics.

We have spent more than two billion dollars settling lawsuits, but we have not spent a single dime on any special initiative to encourage Catholics in America to continue to explore the beauty of their faith. We have not spent a dime reminding the culture at large of the enormous contributions we make to society as a Church. We have not spent a dime inspiring Catholics at a time when more are disillusioned about their faith and the Church than perhaps ever before. And that is a tragedy.

The book you are holding (and the campaign to provide free or low-cost copies to every Catholic in America) is the beginning of our attempt to raise morale among Catholics, remind ourselves that there is genius in Catholicism, and engage disengaged Catholics. In the future we hope to launch a series of billboards and television and radio commercials that remind people of the incredible impact the Church has had and that inspire Catholics to stay engaged.

Imagine a large billboard on any of Chicago's busy, backed-up freeways. No photos would be required, just this simple text: THIS YEAR CHARITIES WILL PROVIDE 2.2 MILLION FREE MEALS TO THE HUNGRY AND THE NEEDY OF CHICAGO. WE DON'T ASK THEM IF THEY ARE CATHOLIC — WE JUST ASK THEM IF THEY ARE HUNGRY. REDISCOVER CATHOLICISM.

The point is we have forgotten our story, and in doing so, we have allowed the world to forget it as well. We have allowed the anti-Catholic segments of the media to distort it on a daily basis. Our history is not without blemish; our future will not be without blemish. But our contribution is unmatched, and it's needed today more than ever before.

I admit that I have been as angry and frustrated as most people about what has happened, what is happening, and what is not happening in the Church. I suppose the question we should consider together is: What will we do with our frustration and our anger?

It seems many people have just stopped thinking about it. They have disengaged from the Church to one extent or another and are getting on with their lives. Some refuse to come to church anymore. A great many have stopped contributing financially. Others have left the Catholic Church for their local nondenominational church. And some have tried to ignore the fact that they are angry about what has happened.

None of these are suitable solutions for me. The past fifteen years on the road have convinced me of these things:

There is genius in Catholicism, if we will just take the time and make the effort to humbly explore it.
There is nothing wrong with Catholicism that can't be fixed by what is right with Catholicism.
If you and I are not part of the solution, we are part of the problem.
If sixty-seven million Catholics in the United States stepped it up a notch, something incredible would happen.
So let's decide, here and now, today, to begin to explore the genius of our faith, to be part of the solution, and to step it up a notch.

It seems clear to even the most casual observer that something is missing. So where do we go from here?

Two thousand years ago, a small group of people captured the attention and intrigued the imagination of the entire Western world. At first, these people were thought to be of no consequence, the followers of a man most considered to be nothing more than an itinerant preacher. But when this man was put to death, a dozen of his followers rose up and began telling people about his life and teachings. They began telling the story of Jesus Christ. They were not the educated elite of their time, they had no political or social status, they were not wealthy, and they had no worldly authority, yet from the very beginning people were joining this quiet revolutionary group one hundred at a time.

As their popularity soared, the prevailing authorities grew fearful of their power, just as they had been afraid of their leader. In some places, the authorities tried to put an end to this new group by randomly killing some of its members. But those chosen considered it the highest honor to die for what they believed. This only intrigued the hearts and perplexed the minds of the people of their time even more.

This small group of people were the first Christians. They were the original followers of Jesus of Nazareth and the first members of what we know today as the Catholic Church.

As the centuries have passed, much has changed. Today, Catholicism is the largest faith community on earth. With more than a billion members across the globe, we are no longer the small minority group the first Christians were. Responsible for the birth of both the education and health care systems that stand as pillars in our modern society, we continue to lead with excellence in these areas. Throughout the centuries, the Church has also been the largest benefactor of the arts, nurturing the elements of cultural life that have the ability to elevate the human heart, mind, and spirit so effortlessly to the things of God. In these United States, where Catholics were once not permitted to apply for certain jobs, there are now more publicly elected officials who are Catholic than any other religious affiliation. The Church is one of the largest landowners in the world, holding property in almost every community, from the most remote rural locations to the most sophisticated cities. In this modern day and age, when the life and dignity of the human person is being threatened at almost every turn, the Catholic Church remains the world's premier institutional defender of human rights. The Church today is a global entity of considerable proportions.

We have come a long way from our humble beginnings. And yet, as great as our achievements may be, as great as our numbers are today, we seem unable to capture the attention and intrigue the imaginations of the people of our own time the way our spiritual ancestors did.

The story of Jesus Christ is the most powerful in history and has directly or indirectly influenced every noble aspect of modern civilization. But amid the hustle and bustle of our daily lives, it is easy to become distracted and distance ourselves from this story. From time to time, someone comes along who reminds us of the spellbinding power the Gospel has when it is actually lived. Some of these men and women are the saints who have become household names; others are just ordinary people: parents and grandparents, nurses and schoolteachers, financial advisers and entrepreneurs.

We have become too comfortably a part of the modern secular culture, and this comfort has resulted in a dangerous complacency toward the life-giving words of the Gospel. Too often, we listen to these words but do not allow them to penetrate our hearts and transform our lives. There is something ultimately attractive about men and women striving to become all that God created them to be. It is this striving that we need to rediscover as a Church.

This striving that is so important to the life of the Church is not the human striving that says, "Let's come up with a plan and make things happen." Rather, it's the striving that relies upon the Spirit of God to illumine, instruct, and guide us at every turn. God doesn't want to control us, nor does he want us to ignore him. God yearns for a dynamic collaboration with each and every single one of us.

The first Christians were not perfect; nor were the saints. They lived in communities that were torn by strife in ways remarkably similar to what we are experiencing today, and they struggled with the brokenness of their own humanity in the same way you and I do. But they were dedicated to the basics.

Catholicism is not a football game, but Paul once compared the Christian life to athletics, and I would like to continue the analogy. Champion-ship winning teams are not necessarily those with the most talented players or the most ingenious new plays, nor are they necessarily the teams with the most resources or superior knowledge of the game. The very best coaches will tell you that teams that win championships are those that focus on the basics and master them together.

We need to get back to the basics.

I know this may sound cliché or trite, but when Catholics dedicate themselves to the basics of our rich and dynamic spirituality extraordinary things begin to happen.

The first Christians intrigued the people of their time. So did the saints, and so do ordinary people who embrace the Christian life today. In the great majority of cases they don't do anything spectacular. For the most part they commit themselves to doing simple things spectacularly well and with great love, and that intrigues people. We need to intrigue the people of our time in the same ways.

Whom does your life intrigue? Not with spectacular accomplishments, but simply by the way you live, love, and work.

If we live and love the way the Gospel invites us to, we will intrigue people. Respect and cherish your spouse and children, and people will be intrigued. Work hard and pay attention to the details of your work, and you will intrigue people. Go out of your way to help those in need, people will be intrigued. When we do what is right even if it comes at a great cost to ourselves, people are intrigued. Patience, kindness, humility, gratitude, thoughtfulness, generosity, courage and forgiveness are all intriguing.

God always wants our future to be bigger than our past. Not equal to our past, but bigger, better, brighter, and more significant. God wants your future and my future, and the future of the Church, to be bigger than the past. It is this bigger future that we need to envision.

One of the most incredible abilities God has given the human person is the ability to dream. We are able to look into the future and imagine something better than today, and then return to the present and work to make that richly imagined future a reality. Who is doing this for the Church?

For many years I have been reflecting on a single verse from Proverbs. It never ceases to ignite my passion for the Church. "Where there is no vision, the people will perish." (Proverbs 29:18) I have found this to be true in every area of life. In a country where there is no vision, the people will perish. In a marriage where there is no vision, people will perish. In a business, a school, or a family where there is no vision, the people will perish.

And it is with a heavy heart that I acknowledge that it seems as a Church we are without a vision, and as a result people are perishing. We need a Catholic vision for this place and this time, something simple and yet profound. A vision to inspire and mobilize Catholics young and old. A vision that can be understood by a seven-year-old as easily as it can by someone with degrees in theology and philosophy.

Some people may take offense at my suggestion that we are without a vision. Others, I am certain, would consider this preposterous. But if you asked one hundred Catholics what the Church's vision is for our times, I suspect you would get one hundred different answers. Or possibly many would have no answer at all. So either we don't have a vision or Catholics don't know what it is, but regardless, the result is the same: People are perishing.

This Catholic vision we are in search of is not the sole responsibility of the Pope, or of the cardinals and bishops. Your priest is not solely responsible for your parish's vision. We each have a role to play in imagining and working toward a future for the Church that will confound the skeptics and inspire the masses.

Many are calling for a return to the past. These people are reactionaries, not visionaries. Too often their cries are driven by a fear of uncertainty and a grappling for stability. Rather than placing their trust in God and cooperating with his future, they allow their humanity to get the better of them as they try to control things beyond their control.

Now is the time for us to reimagine what incredible things are possible if we walk with God. Now is the time for Catholics to become a people of possibility.

God never goes back; he always moves forward. Adam and Eve were banished from the garden. God could have redeemed them and sent them back to the garden, but he didn't, for two reasons: God always wants our future to be bigger than our past, and God always moves forward.

So let us press on toward the future God has envisioned for us and for the Church. It is time for us to become a people of possibility again. Too much of what we do is governed by a very limited way of thinking. We gravitate toward what is manageable, rather than imagining what is possible. We have lost touch with best practices and settle for the way things have always been done. Now is the time for us to reimagine what incredible things are possible if we walk with God. Now is the time for Catholics to become a people of possibility. Imagine what sixty-seven million American Catholics are capable of. Imagine what more than a billion Catholics worldwide are capable of.

One thing is certain: Whatever we do or do not do will determine the future of humanity and the world.

All of this leads me to conclude that now is a time when we all need to rediscover Catholicism. I try to rediscover it every day, and when I seek in earnest to do so I am never disappointed. When I am able to set my ego and personal agenda aside, more often than not I am left in awe.

There are many, Catholics and non-Catholics alike, who do not want to rediscover Catholicism. Others think religion, and Catholicism in particular, has no place in the modern context. I will admit that Catholicism is old. But let me ask you a question. If you had an ancient treasure map, would you throw it away just because it was old? No. The age of the map doesn't matter. What matters is whether or not it leads to treasure. Catholicism is a treasure map: It may be old, but it still leads to treasure. Let's rediscover it together, and help others to do the same.

Matthew Kelly

Acknowledgement
Matthew Kelly. "Prologue: Imagine This" & "Introduction: Where to From Here?" from Rediscover Catholicism. (Erlanger, Kentucky: Beacon Publishing, 2010): 5-17.

Reprinted with permission.

The Author
Matthew Kelly was born in Sydney, Australia. He began speaking and writing in his late teens while he was attending business school. Since that time, more than four million people have attended his seminars and presentations in more than fifty countries. Raised Catholic, he has been saddened by the lack of engagement among Catholics and founded The Dynamic Catholic Institute to research why Catholics engage or disengage and explore what it will take to establish vibrant Catholic communities in the 21st Century. His personal interests include golf, piano, literature, spirituality, investing, and spending time with his wife Meggie and their children Walter, Isabel, and Harry. Among other books he is the author of Rediscover Catholicism and The Four Signs of a Dynamic Catholic.

Copyright © 2015 Beacon Publishing

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Post by Tog Wajale » 03 Apr 2020, 06:05

You Guys Are An Early Immigrant From Tigrai Agg*ame To Eritrea Lands & We Named You Ansceba & Gave Name ☆ Libbi Tigrai ☆ Zigzag Highway From Keren To Asmara ☆ . Bas*tard People.

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Post by Meleket » 04 Apr 2020, 05:00

Coronavirus crisis cannot justify discrimination, bishops say
April 3, 2020 CNA Daily New

https://www.catholicworldreport.com/202 ... shops-say/

Washington D.C., Apr 3, 2020 / 01:00 pm (CNA).- The coronavirus pandemic does not justify abandoning medical ethics, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops told medical professionals in an urgent warning issued on Friday.

“Every crisis produces fear, and the COVID-19 pandemic is no exception,” said a joint statement issued April 3 in response to reports of healthcare rationing plans being drawn up in different parts of the country.

“However, this is not a time to sideline our ethical and moral principles. It is a time to uphold them ever more strongly, for they will critically assist us in steering through these trying times.”

The statement was signed by Bishop Kevin Rhoads of Fort Wayne-South Bend, who leads the USCCB’s doctrine committee, Archbishop Joseph Naumann of Kansas City in Kansas, head of the Committee on Pro-Life Activities, and Archbishop Paul Coakley of Oklahoma City, chairman of the USCCB’s domestic justice and human development.

The bishops praised the “courage, compassion, and truly remarkable professional care” shown by medical workers “in a time of growing crisis.” At the same time, they encouraged them to steadfast in their principles, in the face of the challenges presented by the pandemic, including the shortage of essential medical supplies.

At least two states, Alabama and Washington, have been accused of drafting discriminatory guidance that would prioritize patients without disabilities over those with them, should there be a shortage of medical equipment, such as ventilators.

The several Catholic groups, as well as the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), have condemned these proposals, pointing out they would violate human rights and anti-discrimination laws.

“Our belief in evidence-based clinical care and public health measures should be translated through the lens of Catholic medical ethics and social teaching with respect to justice and the just distribution of scarce resources,” said the Catholic Medical Association in a statement.

“Catholic social teaching is therefore predicated on these key principles: (1) the inherent and fundamental principle of the dignity of human life; (2) the principle of subsidiarity; and (3) the principle of solidarity.”

The Catholic Medical Association stressed in their statement that “God does not make man the arbiter of the value of life” and that “in humility the Catholic health care worker recognizes that no choice should be made that sacrifices the innate dignity of the individual human person, even when questions about scarce resources arise.”

The bishops said they were “grateful” for these statements, particularly the one from the Office of Civil Rights at HHS.

On Saturday, the civil rights office at HHS issued a bulletin stating that “In this time of emergency, the laudable goal of providing care quickly and efficiently must be guided by the fundamental principles of fairness, equality, and compassion that animate our civil rights laws.”

“As such, persons with disabilities should not be denied medical care on the basis of stereotypes, assessments of quality of life, or judgments about a person’s relative ‘worth’ based on the presence or absence of disabilities,” the bulletin said.

“We also commend the Office of Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for issuing a reminder that in a time of crisis we must not discriminate against persons solely on the basis of disability or age by denying them medical care,” said the bishops.

“Good and just stewardship of resources cannot include ignoring those on the periphery of society, but must serve the common good of all, without categorically excluding people based on ability, financial resources, age, immigration status, or race.”

The bishops also wrote that even in a time of limited resources, medical professionals must keep the dignity of their patients in mind when making healthcare decisions. This care, they said, will often require that medical professionals consult with the patient and their loved ones in order to provide the best and most appropriate care.

“Foremost in our approach to limited resources is to always keep in mind the dignity of each person and our obligation to care for the sick and dying,” they said.

“Such care, however, will require patients, their families, and medical professionals to work together in weighing the benefits and burdens of care, the needs and safety of everyone, and how to distribute resources in a prudent, just, and unbiased way.”

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Re: ኣምላኽ ይተሓወሶ! A Dominican Microbiologist on a Possible Coronavirus Treatment

Post by Meleket » 04 Apr 2020, 12:04

MINILIK SALSAWI wrote:
04 Apr 2020, 11:40
.... Hydroxychloroquine rated 'most effective therapy' by doctors for coronavirus: Global survey https://bit.ly/2xKne7I


Hydroxychloroquine rated 'most effective therapy' by doctors for coronavirus: Global survey
Drug known for treating malaria used by U.S. doctors mostly for high-risk COVID-19 patients
Gopesh Patel, RPh, with VLS Pharmacy in Brooklyn, has filled physician prescriptions for more than 70 COVID-19 patients, supplying a compounded formulation with hydroxychloroquine. (Business Wire via Associated Press)

By Valerie Richardson - The Washington Times - Thursday, April 2, 2020
An international poll of more than 6,000 doctors released Thursday found that the antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine was the most highly rated treatment for the novel coronavirus.

The survey conducted by Sermo, a global health care polling company, of 6,227 physicians in 30 countries found that 37% of those treating COVID-19 patients rated hydroxychloroquine as the “most effective therapy” from a list of 15 options.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration gave chloroquine and its next-generation derivative, hydroxychloroquine, emergency-use authorization Monday for treating the novel coronavirus, although the drug was already being used off-label by some doctors and hospitals for COVID-19 patients.

The survey also found that the most commonly prescribed treatments are analgesics (56%), azithromycin (41%) and hydroxychloroquine (33%).
Azithromycin, known by the brand name Zithromax or Z-Pak, was rated the second-most effective therapy at 32%, followed by “nothing,” analgesics (including acetaminophen), anti-HIV drugs and cough medicine.

Hydroxychloroquine, which is sold under the brand name Plaquenil, was prescribed mainly in the United States for the most severe cases, but not so in other countries.

“Outside the U.S., hydroxychloroquine was equally used for diagnosed patients with mild to severe symptoms whereas in the U.S. it was most commonly used for high risk diagnosed patients,” the survey found.
The 30 nations surveyed included those in Europe, Asia, North America and South America, as well as Australia. No incentives were provided to participate in the poll, conducted March 25-27, according to Sermo.
ANNOUNCEMENT: To create a centralized & dynamic knowledge base we published results of our COVID-19 study, which over 6.2K physicians in 30 countries participated in: https://t.co/ppewwdo8wl pic.twitter.com/Fg5B6FMUCQ
— Sermo (@Sermo) April 2, 2020

Hydroxychloroquine usage was most widespread in Spain, where 72% of physicians surveyed said they had prescribed it, followed by Italy at 49%, and least popular in Japan, where 7% had used it to treat COVID-19.

The poll found 23% of U.S. medical professionals had prescribed the drug, which has been FDA-approved for malaria, lupus and rheumatoid arthritis.

Debate about hydroxychloroquine has raged in the United States since President Trump touted it two weeks ago as a potential “game-changer” in the fight against the deadly pandemic, prompting critics to accuse him of peddling unproven remedies, or “snake oil,” as USA Today put it.
Trump-touted malaria drug takes center stage in coronavirus treatment fracas - https://t.co/LnIKLHZYXI - @washtimes #hydroxychloroquine #chloroquine #COVID19
— Valerie Richardson (@ValRichardson17) April 2, 2020

Sermo CEO Peter Kirk called the polling results a “treasure trove of global insights for policy makers.”

“Physicians should have more of a voice in how we deal with this pandemic and be able to quickly share information with one another and the world,” he said. “With censorship of the media and the medical community in some countries, along with biased and poorly designed studies, solutions to the pandemic are being delayed.”

The survey also found that 63% of U.S. physicians believe restrictions should be lifted in six weeks or more, and that the epidemic’s peak is at least 3-4 weeks away.

The survey also found that 83% of global physicians anticipate a second global outbreak, including 90% of U.S. doctors but only 50% of physicians in China.

On average, U.S. coronavirus testing takes 4-5 days, while 10% of cases take longer than seven days. In China, 73% of doctors reported getting rest results back in 24 hours.

In cases of ventilator shortages, all countries but China said the top criteria should be patients with the best chance of recovery (47%), followed by patients with the highest risk of death (21%), and then first responders (15%).

In China, the survey said doctors prioritized patients at greatest risk of death.
Copyright © 2020 The Washington Times, LLC.

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