- AMERICAN THINKER - Sep 11, 2020 -
By Brian C. Joondeph, M.D.
COVID-19 is a nasty virus, damaging or killing the unfortunate few who caught it and became extremely ill. Preferring the elderly and those with preexisting medical conditions, many died or had their lives and families upended.
Far more have been ravaged by the downstream effects of the Wuhan virus - socioeconomic destruction following the economic shutdown which persists to this day in many locales as well as delayed or deferred medical care from a several month-long ban on elective medical care.
Deaths and hospital resource use peaked in mid-April nationally, with occasional local resurgences, generally mild and short-lived, yet in September many schools remain closed, large gatherings prohibited, businesses shuttered, and masks remain the fall season’s fashion accessory.
There are only a few ways out of this quagmire. Herd immunity has been the traditional endpoint for past viral pandemics as it occurs relatively quickly. Sweden has likely achieved herd immunity without shutting down as did their neighbors.
Israeli Professor Isaac Ben-Israel used statistical analysis demonstrating, “The spread of COVID-19 peaks after about 40 days and declines to almost zero after 70 days — no matter where it strikes, and no matter what measures governments impose to try to thwart it.”
Other options include therapeutics or a vaccine. Viruses are notoriously difficult to cure with medications. Vaccines provide varying degrees of protection against viruses but take many months or years to develop and earn FDA approval.
Short term, therapeutics are the best option aside from waiting for the virus to burn itself out as in past pandemics. Two such medications have been in the news as potential treatments. Yet they have been treated far differently by the media and medical establishment.
Hydroxychloroquine was first FDA-approved in 1955 to prevent malaria and subsequently to treat immune diseases such as lupus and rheumatoid arthritis. It is generally well tolerated, many patients taking it for years, unlike the week or two recommended for early outpatient COVID treatment.
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