How the COVID-19 Pandemic Will End

James Lyons-Weiler, PhD – 3/15/2020

How this pandemic will end depends on how soon the medical community realizes that therapeutics are 100% essential this time.

NOW THAT SOCIAL DISTANCING is occurring in the US and other countries, and some countries are under general quarantine, what next? How long will social distancing and quarantine be in effect?

The promise of a vaccine against Coronavirus is too far off to play a role in ending the deadly and economy- smashing effects of our response to COVID-19. The move to start human trials of SAR-CoV-2 vaccines without proper animal safety studies has prompted outcries (See Moderna and US NIAID Poised to Endanger the World Population?) given the reality that SARS-CoV studies had unacceptable safety issues of pathogenic priming : animals vaccinated using Spike protein based vaccines against SARS and MERS – close cousin of SARS-CoV-2 – had worse outcomes when challenged with the virus that the vaccine was supposed to protect them against. Even the most vocal vaccine proponents such as Paul Offit and Peter Hotez now say skipping the animal studies could result in unacceptable risks. I should point out that this week, they have joined the ranks of people using freedom of speech to “spread” vaccine skepticism.

Given the catastrophic outcomes in animal safety testing for the SARS coronavirus vaccine, we must understand that the current vaccine trials will likely fail. We must realize also that social distancing alone will be insufficient to bring a reasonably quick end to the need for social distancing and quarantine.

Here are some simulation result of the outcome of using either just social distancing to manage the spread of SARS-CoV-2 or combining social distancing with therapeutics:

Clearly therapeutics will be necessary to play a role in bringing about an end to this pandemic. Resources on this are listed at the end of this article.

Here I list feasible steps that are absolutely essential for the countries to end the pandemic as quickly as possible.

1. Testing. Develop local testing capacity. Avoid CDC’s flawed test until they produce data showing high sensitivity and specificity of their primer probe sets. Testing will be relevant towards effective resource use, but people should not wait until they have symptoms to take steps to reduce the severity of virus-related illnesses.

The utility of accurate testing should be a lesson for all respiratory virus-related illnesses and perhaps we will see a massive paradigm shift towards accurate testing and reporting of which respiratory virus individuals actually have and perhaps medicine will now abandon so-called “flu syndrome”.

2. Plasma convalescent therapy. Each test-positive patient who has recovered should be asked to donate a liter of blood from which antibodies can be harvested. The resulting product should be screened for other viruses and then administered to those on the front lines first – nurses, MDs, medical staff – EMTS, the military, all essential personel in the “infrastructure” industries and in the food industries. See this reference in The Lancet for details.

3. Therapeutics (Prophylatic Treatments). Mass production and distribution of other therapeutics including antivirals that have shown to be effective against SARS-CoV-2 for prophylactic use in families and workplaces who have a members or co-workers who test positive for COVID-19. Herbal remedies that also show efficacy should not be discouraged – anything that might help but will not hurt should be used. A registry of treatment experiences and outcomes should be created to help identify the most efficacious treatment options.

4. True Immune Enhancement. Increase the use of supplements that enhance and strengthen the immune system. These include vitamins such as vitamin D vitamin A and large doses of vitamin C. Encourage the uptake of micronutrients including zinc and selenium which have specifically been shown to inhibit the entry of SARS and SARS-CoV-2 into human cells. An extract of licorice root appears to have some effect. (The phrase “immune enhancement” is being misused to refer to a dangerous outcome due to exposure to the virus following vaccination, which should be referred to as “Pathogenic Priming”.

5. Wellness. Increase life affirming and healthy lifestyle choices including exercise, exposure to sunlight, daily air exchange of the home and healthy avocational activities. People should be encouraged to take the time for early spring cleaning, take up a new exercise regime such as thai chi, to learn a new language or to learn a new musical instrument.

Use this time to exercise to reduce metabolic syndrome and diabetes is essential to reduce your risk of mortality. Diabetics have a 6% fatality risk. People with cardiovascular illness including hypertension have a 10% case fatality risk. Talk to your doctor about moving from ACE inhibitor blood pressure management to other options. Also talk to your doctor about adding exercise to your lifestyle to help control your diabetes.

I applaud the move taken by the banking and and finance industries to help stabilize hardships visited upon families by loss of work including interest forgiveness on loans, tolerance of delayed, late or skipped payments. Mental wellness is essential for making optimal life choices.

It is time for a re-discovery the best part of ourselves. Engage in charitable acts to aid the elderly and those at most risk of serious illness.

Resources on Therapeutics – “ANY AND ALL THAT WILL HELP, NOT EITHER/OR”

Plasma Convalescent Therapy

https://video.foxbusiness.com/v/6141138603001/#sp=show-clips

https://www.dailywire.com/news/report-plasma-therapy-showing-excellent-results-against-coronavirus

The Lancet – Convalescent plasma as a potential therapy for COVID-19

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099%2820%2930141-9/fulltext

Antivirals

Treatments under study include nutriceuticals and supplements; ” and antiviral drugs such as Disulfiram and Chloroquine Phosphate.

Potential Inhibitor of COVID-19 Main Protease from Several Medicinal Plant Compounds by Molecular Docking Study. https://www.preprints.org/manuscript/202003.0226/v1/download

See: “Disulfiram can inhibit MERS and SARS coronavirus papain-like proteases via different modes“.

See “Remdesivir and chloroquine effectively inhibit the recently emerged novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in vitro“.

See “Expert consensus on chloroquine phosphate for the treatment of novel coronavirus pneumonia“.

The race to find a coronavirus treatment: One strategy might be just weeks away, scientists say https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2020/03/15/coronavirus-treatment-could-coming-doctors-say-still-no-vaccine/5052788002/

Chloroquine Confirmed Effective as Coronavirus Cure https://www.hngn.com/articles/228138/20200223/coronavirus-cure-chloroquine-confirmed-effective.htm

Vitamins and Minerals

See: How doctors say you can boost your immune system to protect against flu, coronavirus https://www.abcactionnews.com/news/national/coronavirus/how-doctors-say-you-can-boost-your-immune-system-to-protect-against-flu-coronavirus

Herbals and Supplements

Selenium and other micronutrient deficiency is considered to play a role in severity of a coronavirus infection (See: “Micronutrient Selenium Deficiency Influences Evolution of Some Viral Infectious Diseases“). Glycyrrhizin, an active component of liquorice roots, has been found to have few toxic effects and to be clinically effective against SARS-associated coronavirus. (See: See “Glycyrrhizin, an active component of liquorice roots, and replication of SARS-associated coronavirus“)

Supplements that might have a positive effect include N- acetyl cysteine, selenium, spirulina and high dose glucosamine (See “Nutraceuticals have potential for boosting the type 1 interferon response to RNA viruses including influenza and coronavirus

Colloidal Silver Nebulizer

See drpaulapproved.com for info on colloidal silver nebulizer.