Zinc, Vitamin C Don’t Help Fight Covid
The new study looks at two supplements, also taken by many to fight common colds, that started disappearing from market shelves. Other news reports look at blood thinner benefits, new research centers at Tulane and more.
CIDRAP:
Zinc, Vitamin C Show No Effect For COVID-19 In Small Study
Consuming high doses of zinc and ascorbic acid (vitamin C) was not associated with improvement in COVID-19 infections, according to a small study published today in JAMA Network Open. In a 214-person, open-label experiment with COVID outpatients in Ohio and Florida, those who received one or both supplements had similar symptom-reduction periods as those who received standard of care. (McLernon, 2/12)
CIDRAP:
Early Anticoagulant Use Tied To Fewer Deaths In VA Patients With COVID-19
COVID-19 patients given preventive anticoagulants, or blood thinners, within 24 hours of hospitalization may have a greater chance of survival than those who don't receive them, suggests a large observational US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) study published yesterday in BMJ.A team led by researchers from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine mined the electronic health records of 4,297 VA patients hospitalized with COVID-19 from Mar 1 to Jul 31, 2020. (2/12)
In other science and research news —
New Orleans Times-Picayune:
Tulane Launches Three New Research Centers To Combat Coronavirus, Future Infectious Disease
To better arm doctors with life-saving information about coronavirus -- and future infectious diseases that will threaten the world -- Tulane University has launched three new complex research centers. Called the Research Centers of Excellence, the initiative will focus on convergence research, or that which "deeply integrates investigators from different schools, backgrounds and expertise," according to Dr. Giovanni Piedimonte, Tulane's vice president for research. "It's obvious that a pandemic can totally change the world as we are experiencing now," Piedimonte said. "At the same time, we know for a fact there are going to be more pandemics in the future. The only way to prepare ourselves is with more breakthrough research, new technology and revolutionary ideas to protect ourselves against the future COVIDs." (Hasselle, 2/16)
Stat:
The Search For New Covid Drugs — And A Researcher's Reason For Optimism
David Fajgenbaum is a physician and scientist at the University of Pennsylvania. He is best known for his personal battle against Castleman Disease, which nearly killed him before he discovered a treatment that saved his life. Now, however, Fajgenbaum’s research lab at Penn is now working to catalog and analyze drugs that might prove effective against Covid-19. (Feuerstein, Tirrell and Garde, 2/15)
