Save Yourself From The Delta Variant: Risk Of Death Increases By 10 Times For Unvaccinated People

Though the COVID-19 vaccination campaign is underway in countries across the world, there are still some people out there who are wary of getting the shot. Waning immunity in some sections of the population is one reason behind this vaccine hesitancy. Experts have been trying to allay the fears from the minds of such people and have been repeatedly stressed on the importance of vaccination to control the pandemic. Now three new studies by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) emphasises the importance of COVID-19 shots in preventing death rates. This is published in CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

The risk is there for the elderly who got the shots too

According to experts, people who refuse to take the vaccine are 10 times more likely to die from the infection as compared to individuals who are vaccinated. According to one study, currently available shots do provide significant protection against the deadly viral disease for most people and vaccinated people are less likely to be hospitalised or die. But the researchers observed that hospitalisation and death rates were much higher among unvaccinated people. However, they also noted that the same risks are also present among the elderly irrespective of their vaccination status.

Vaccine efficacy drops to 80 per cent after emergence of Delta variant

For one of the studies, the CDC looked at the data of approximately 6,00,000 COVID-19 cases reported from April 4 to July 17 in 13 states and cities of the US. They analysed the hospitalisations and deaths among people who are 18years or age or older according to their vaccination status. They found that:

• Vaccine efficacy against COVID-19 dropped from 90 per cent, when delta had not yet gained traction, to less than 80 per cent from mid-June to mid-July, when delta became the dominant variant.
• There was hardly any decline hospitalisation and death during the entire period.

Moderna shot offers the best protection

Another study revealed that Moderna's vaccine provides better protection against the Delta variant than Pfizer or Johnson & Johnson. Experts say that Moderna showed 95 per cent efficacy at preventing hospitalisation among adults ages 18 and older. On the other hand, the Pfizer shot was 80 per cent effective and Johnson & Johnson only 60 per cent effective. 

mRNA vaccines more effective, say experts

The third study looked into the efficacy of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna shots. Researchers found that the mRNA vaccines were 87 per cent effective in preventing hospitalisations and provided significant protection from the Delta variant.

This is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.   

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17 Existing Drugs, A Dietary Supplement, That Can Block COVID-19 Infection In Cells

The emergence of the COVID-19 virus had our scientists scrambling to find a cure at the earliest. In the absence of any breakthrough, they had identified many existing drugs, which are used for treatment of other diseases, for use against this virus. Today, some of these drugs are accepted as standard protocol for treatment of COVID-19 while some are shrouded in controversy. Drugs like Remdesivir, Tocilizumab, Ivermectin and Dexamethasone are today widely used to fight this viral infection. But experts are divided about the efficacy of these drugs against this particular virus. Now a new study reveals several drug contenders, which are already in use for the treatment of other diseases, that can block or reduce COVID-19 infection in cells. The study was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.

The 17 drugs include 10 new and 7 previously identified drugs

This new ground-breaking study from Michigan Medicine, University of Michigan, reveals several drug contenders already in use for other purposes, including one dietary supplement, that have been shown to block or reduce COVID-19 infection in cells. For the purpose of the study, researchers use artificial intelligence-powered image analysis of human cell lines during infection with COVID-19. They treated the cells with over 1,400 different FDA-approved drugs and compounds, either before or after infection, and then screened the results. Here, we list the highlights of the study.

• The entire exercise threw up 17 potential hits.
• Ten of those 17 hits were drugs that were newly recognized for the treatment of COVID-19.
• Seven of these hits are drugs that were identified in earlier drug repurposing studies.
• This includes Remdesivir, one of the few FDA-approved therapies for COVID-17 in hospitalized patients.

All identified drugs can go for phase 2 trials

Usually, the drug development process takes almost a decade, if not more. But in the present scenario, scientists don't have the luxury of time. They are under a lot of pressure to find a working treatment protocol for COVID-19 at the earliest. According to the researchers of the above-mentioned study, the 17 therapies which they discovered can do straight to phase 2 clinical trials since their safety is already established.

A dietary supplement that can block COVID-19 infection

The research team validated all 17 candidate compounds in different types of cells. This included stem-cell derived human lung cells. This was done in an effort to mimic COVID-19 infection of the respiratory tract. They saw anti-viral activity at reasonable doses in nine of the compounds. This included lactoferrin, which is a protein present in human breastmilk. This protein is also available over the counter as a dietary supplement derived from cow's milk. The researchers were pleasantly surprised to see that lactoferrin was highly effective in preventing infection. And the best thing is that it can also block infection from the highly transmissible Delta variant.

Medicines that adversely affect COVID-19

During the course of the study, researchers also identified a class of compounds called MEK-inhibitors, which is used in the treatment of cancer, can worsen COVID-19 infection. Hence, they caution that cancer patients who are undergoing chemotherapy may be adversely affected especially since their immunity is already low because of treatment. But they say that further studies are needed to confirm if the identified drugs worsen disease progression.

 

This is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.   

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https://gseasyrecipes.blogspot.com. feel free to view for easy, simple and healthy recipes    
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