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Merck, one of Big Pharma’s biggest players, reveals its COVID-19 vaccine and therapy plans – Science

Merck, one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world, has been conspicuously absent from the race to develop COVID-19 vaccines and drugs. No longer. The company this morning announced it has cut deals to develop and manufacture two different COVID-19 vaccines and a much-discussed experimental antiviral compound that is already in early clinical trials.

France, Italy, Belgium act to stop use of hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19 on safety fears – Reuters

France, Italy and Belgium acted to halt the use of hydroxychloroquine to treat patients suffering from COVID-19, the illness caused by the new coronavirus, amid questions about the safety of the generic anti-malaria drug.

The long-awaited awaited remdesivir trial – FLARE

Antibody testing holds promise as a method by which to identify the true past incidence or current prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection (Sood et al. 2020; NIAID n.d.). Antibody testing may also be helpful for determining infection status in a patient with a high clinical suspicion for disease but with negative viral testing, for identifying potential donors for convalescent plasma, and for assessing immunologic response to vaccine candidates. Additionally, many patients who have had viral syndromes and either tested negative for SARS-CoV-2 or were unable to receive testing may be interested in antibody testing to determine if they may have had a prior infection. Lastly, if antibodies are shown to be protective against future infection, knowing an individual’s antibody status may help with risk assessment for particular activities.

Tough weeks ahead for South America’s COVID-19 hot spots – CIDRAP

As the global COVID-19 total passed 5 million last week, cases in Latin America—the current epicenter—passed the United States and Europe in number of cases, and though Brazil’s total is highest in the region, health officials are worried about an even higher incidence in Chile and Peru, where outbreaks are accelerating.

How to avoid a second wave of infections – Washington Post/John Barry

All 50 states have now started to come out of lockdown, in many cases without meeting White House guidelines and without adequate testing and contact tracing capacity. So how can we minimize deaths in this new reality — and prevent a potentially explosive new wave? Lessons of the past — and what we have learned from our present condition — provide some guidance.

America’s response to coronavirus pandemic is ‘incomprehensibly incoherent,’ says historian who studied the 1918 flu – Washington Post/John Barry

Well, until a couple of decades ago, historians wrote only about what people did to people. It was very unusual for historians to write about what nature did to people. Another thing is because of the war and the infrastructure of propaganda that [President] Wilson had created, newspapers didn’t write about it. And if they did, it was some relatively inconsequential article.

Is Alzheimer’s Gene Tied to Higher COVID Risk? – Med Page Today

U.K. Biobank data assesses coronavirus test data by genotype. Britons who had two copies of the APOE4 allele — the most prevalent genetic risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease — were at markedly higher risk of testing positive for the COVID-19 coronavirus, an analysis of U.K. Biobank data suggested. [Related Study]

Beware of false negatives in diagnostic testing of COVID-19 – Science Daily

Researchers have found that the chance of a false negative result — when a virus is not detected in a person who actually is, or recently has been, infected — is greater than 1 in 5 and, at times, far higher. [Related Study]

Nearing 100,000 COVID-19 Deaths, U.S. Is Still ‘Early In This Outbreak’ – NPR

[5 min audio at link] The bleak milestone the U.S. is about to hit — 100,000 deaths from COVID-19 — is far above the number of deaths seen from the pandemic in any other country. So far, the impact of the coronavirus has been felt unevenly, striking certain cities and regions and particular segments of society much harder than others.

Virus Hunters Seek To Solve The Mystery Of Coronavirus Origins – NPR

[Video at link] Scientists have learned a great deal about how the novel coronavirus spreads. But one of the mysteries they’re still trying to untangle is where the virus, known as SARS-CoV-2, came from in the first place. Scientific evidence points overwhelmingly to wildlife — and to bats as the most likely origin point.

The Toughest Triage — Allocating Ventilators in a Pandemic – NEJM

The Covid-19 pandemic has led to severe shortages of many essential goods and services, from hand sanitizers and N95 masks to ICU beds and ventilators. Although rationing is not unprecedented, never before has the American public been faced with the prospect of having to ration medical goods and services on this scale.

Placental Injury Seen in Pregnant Women With SARS-CoV-2 – Physicians Weekly

Higher rates of decidual arteriopathy and other maternal vascular malperfusion features are seen in placentas of women with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), according to a study published online May 22 in the American Journal of Clinical Pathology. [Related Study]

The impacts of COVID-19 around the world, as told by statistics – World Economic Forum

We are living through unprecedented times. The impact of the novel coronavirus and the disease it causes, COVID-19, has reverberated through every corner of the globe — taking lives, destroying livelihoods, and changing everything about how we interact with each other and the world.

Official Reporting for May 27, 2020