Archive for the ‘Treatment’ Category

Live Webinar & Q&A: Lyme, EBV, & More

https://rawlsmd.com/webinars/lyme-ebv-more/

Live Webinar + Q&A: Lyme, EBV, & More

Enduring chronic Lyme disease is bad enough. Add to that a viral coinfection such as Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), cytomegalovirus, or another, and your illness becomes even more severe, plus recovery can take significantly longer. And while viruses like EBV tend to pop up periodically during Lyme treatment, overcoming them is possible — and you don’t have to do it all alone.

Join a live webinar with Dr. Bill Rawls, author of the best-selling book Unlocking Lyme, who knows firsthand what it’s like to struggle with chronic Lyme disease and the viral coinfections that can go hand in hand with it. You’ll discover what really matters when it comes to diagnosing EBV and other viruses, plus the best natural and conventional remedies for easing symptoms and restoring your health.

Since his recovery more than a decade ago, Dr. Rawls has helped thousands of patients find their path to healing from Lyme disease and coinfections. Now, he’d like to help you. Come with your questions, and he’ll answer as many of them as possible. PLUS: Don’t miss an exclusive gift for those who attend the live webinar.

In this webinar, Dr. Rawls will discuss:

What are the telltale signs of EBV?

• Do you need to know which viral coinfection(s) you have before seeking treatment?

• Are there reliable testing methods for EBV and other viruses?

• What are the best herbal and natural remedies for EBV?

• How can you tell for certain when EBV is gone?

• Numerous other insights and answers on EBV and viruses throughout the live Q&A with Dr. Rawls

RESERVE MY SEAT »

Category:

Herbs, Lyme, Testing, Treatment, Uncategorized, Viruses

Easy & Effective Shield to Protect From COVID

https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2022/02/18/easy-and-effective-shield-from-covid-19

Go here for the 6 minute interview with Dr. Peter McCullough on oral/nasal hygiene for SARS-CoV-2.

An Easy and Effective Shield to Protect From COVID-19

Feb. 18, 2022

Analysis by Dr. Joseph Mercola

Story at-a-glance

  • A simple mouth and nose spray containing povidone iodine (PVP-I) could act as an effective shield to protect against COVID-19
  • PVP-I is a microbicidal agent with a virucidal efficacy of 99.99%
  • When applied, the oronasal spray acts as a protective layer, coating the nasal and oral mucosa, which helps prevent SARS-CoV-2 from binding with ACE2 receptors and gaining entry into your cells
  • In a clinical trial that has not yet been published, a 0.6% PVP-I solution had an efficacy rate of about 81.5% with “almost no mucosal irritation”
  • Povidone iodine solutions have been found to inactivate SARS-CoV-2 in as little as 15 seconds and potentially reduce the carriage of infectious SARS-CoV-2 in people with mild to moderate COVID-19
  • Nebulized hydrogen peroxide diluted with normal saline, plus Lugol’s iodine, can also be used for any suspected respiratory infection; the earlier you start, the better

A simple mouth and nose spray could act as an effective shield to protect against COVID-19, adding one more tool to the arsenal of antiviral options. The straightforward solution was recommended by Dr. Mostafa Kamal Arefin of Dhaka Medical College & Hospital in Bangladesh and includes polyvinyl pyrrolidone or povidone iodine (PVP-I), a microbicidal agent with a virucidal efficacy of 99.99%.1

Writing in the Indian Journal of Otolaryngology and Head & Neck Surgery, Arefin recommended the PVP-I oro-nasal spray for health care workers and anyone else to help prevent COVID-19,2 echoing a number of other studies that have also found benefits to gargling, nasal irrigation and nebulization of PVP-I and other compounds, including Lugol’s iodine, saline and hydrogen peroxide.3

How Oronasal Sprays May Shield You From COVID-19

Arefin’s oronasal spray is made of a 0.6% PVP-I solution, kept in a “simple nasal spray device.” The spray formulation works better than drops, he noted, because it allows the active ingredient to diffuse further and reach deeper into the nose and nasopharynx, which is the upper part of the throat behind the nose. When applied, the oronasal spray acts as a protective layer, coating the nasal and oral mucosa.

Typically, if you’re exposed to SARS-CoV-2, it will enter your body through your nose and mouth, remaining there for a time before binding with ACE2 receptors and entering cells. Once inside your cells, the virus has an opportunity to multiply.

“The first step in the development of URTIs [upper respiratory tract infections],” Arefin writes, “is the adherence and colonization of the respiratory pathogen to the nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal mucosa. Assuming nasal and oral entry of such pathogens, intranasal and intra oral application of Povidone Iodine offers a practical measure for their prevention.”4

By creating a protective shield, oronasal spray helps prevent SARS-CoV-2 from binding with ACE2 receptors and gaining entry into your cells. In a clinical trial that has not yet been published,5 Arefin and colleagues got positive results using 0.6% PVP-I Oro-nasal spray in 189 patients with COVID-19. The 0.6% solution had an efficacy rate of about 81.5%, which was greater than that of other concentrations (0.4% and 0.5%) and produced “almost no mucosal irritation.”6

Povidone-Iodine Inactivates SARS-CoV-2

Already, PVP-I gargles, throat sprays and nasal sprays are available over-the-counter in countries such as Japan and Canada.7 In Japan, a 0.45% PVP-I throat spray is available for the prevention of colds and sore throats, while gargling with the compound is part of their national respiratory guidelines.8

A 2002 study, during which patients were asked to gargle more than four times a day with a PVP-I solution, for several months up to two years, found the practice significantly reduced the incidence of chronic respiratory infections.9 In a preprint study that also advocated for the use of PVP-I nasal sprays and mouthwash to protect health care workers and reduce cross infection during the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s explained:10

“The antimicrobial action of PVP-I occurs after free iodine (I2) dissociates from the polymer complex. Once in the free form, iodine rapidly penetrates microbes and disrupts proteins and oxidizes nucleic acid structures. This interaction ultimately results in microbial death.”

PVP-I has been found to be effective in-vitro against coronaviruses that caused the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) epidemic of 2002 to 2003 and the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) epidemic of 2012 to 2013.11

Povidone iodine solutions have also been found to inactivate SARS-CoV-2 in as little as 15 seconds12 and potentially reduce the carriage of infectious SARS-CoV-2 in people with mild to moderate COVID-19.13 In another study of nasal irrigation among high-risk patients with COVID-19, the use of nasal irrigation with povidone iodine or baking soda reduced the risk of hospitalization by eight times compared to the national rate.14

In a letter to the editor of the Journal of Otolaryngology, Head & Neck Surgery, researchers further noted:15

“Because the reservoir for SARS-CoV-2 shedding is in the nasopharynx and nasal and oral cavities, the application of viricidal agents to these surfaces may reduce virus burden.

Numerous studies have confirmed that povidone-iodine inactivates many common respiratory viruses, including SARS-CoV-1. Povidone-iodine also has good profile for mucosal tolerance. Thus, we propose a prophylactic treatment protocol for the application of topical povidone-iodine to the upper aerodigestive tract.”

Benefits and How to Use PVP-I Oro-Nasal Spray

Using 0.6% PVP-I Oro-nasal spray is low cost, safe and effective against coronaviruses, including SARS-CoV-2. It can be used both in healthy individuals as a protective agent and in people with COVID-19 to reduce viral load and the potential for transmitting the virus to close contacts.

The side effects are minimal and include mucosal irritation, teeth staining and thyroid dysfunction. At least one study, which used both PVP-I mouthwashes and gargles four times a day for five days, found an elevation in thyroid stimulating hormone during treatment, but levels returned to normal after the treatment was stopped.16

Arefin recommends the spray for both health care workers and the general population, prior to attending public gatherings or working outside the home, and following exposure to a suspected COVID-19 patient. He advises two to three puffs in each nostril and one to three puffs in the throat every three to four hours. After every one to two weeks of use, he recommends taking a one-day break from the treatment.17

There are, however, many ways to use nasal irrigation, gargles and nebulization against COVID-19. For instance, Dr. Peter McCullough, an internist, cardiologist and epidemiologist, tweeted, “Nasal/oral viricidal washes can be done prophylactically twice a day and up to every 4 hours during early treatment. Reduce viral load for less severe illness.”18

The Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Working Group (FLCCC) also recommends povidone-iodine as part of their I-Mask+ protocol for prevention and early outpatient treatment of COVID-19. Part of their prevention protocol includes twice daily gargling with a 1% povidone/iodine solution, while iodine nasal spray or drops are recommended as one of the first line agents in their early treatment protocol. Specifically, they recommend:19

“Use 1 % povidone-iodine commercial product as per instructions 2–3 x daily. If 1 %-product not available, must first dilute the more widely available 10 %-solution and apply 4–5 drops to each nostril every 4 hours. (No more than 5 days in pregnancy.)”

Importantly, povidone-iodine solutions sold as topical skin disinfectants to treat cuts and wounds should not be used for gargling due to potentially harmful ingredients.

Nebulized Hydrogen Peroxide for COVID-19

Download Interview Transcript

As I discuss in my interview with Dr. David Brownstein above, he has successfully treated hundreds of COVID-19 patients using immune boosting strategies such as intravenous or nebulized hydrogen peroxide, iodine, oral vitamins A, C and D, and intramuscular ozone. In a case report of 107 confirmed COVID-19 patients that he treated, 91 (85%) used nebulized peroxide diluted with normal saline, plus Lugol’s iodine. As explained in Brownstein’s paper:20

“A solution of 250 cc of normal saline was mixed with 3 cc of 3% hydrogen peroxide providing a final concentration of 0.04% hydrogen peroxide … Additionally, 1 cc of magnesium chloride (200 mg/ml) was added to the 250 cc saline/hydrogen peroxide bag. (This was mixed in the office for the patients.)

Patients were instructed to nebulize 3 cc of the mixture three times per day or more often if there were breathing problems. Usually one or two nebulizer treatments were reported to improve breathing problems … They reported no adverse effects. We have been using nebulized saline/hydrogen peroxide at this concentration for over two decades in his practice.

Hydrogen peroxide is continually produced in the human body with substantial amounts produced in the mitochondria. Every cell in the body is exposed to some level of hydrogen peroxide. The lungs are known to produce hydrogen peroxide. Nebulized hydrogen peroxide has been shown to have antiviral activities. Hydrogen peroxide can activate lymphocytes which are known to be depleted in COVID-19.”

I’ve embraced nebulized peroxide since the COVID-19 pandemic broke out and have received many anecdotal reports from people who have successfully used it, even at more advanced stages. Based on Brownstein’s experience, I also recommend adding iodine when nebulizing, as it appears to make it even more effective.

Proper Dilution Is the Key to Safety

Povidone-iodine gargles and nasal sprays, and nebulized peroxide diluted with saline, with or without iodine, can be safely used by most people both for prevention and in cases of active infection, provided the substances are properly diluted.

For instance, while nebulization with 0.1% to 3% hydrogen peroxide appears to be quite safe, it would be a very serious hazard to use peroxide of greater concentrations. Food grade peroxide up to 35% concentration can be obtained but should NEVER be used topically or internally. It MUST be diluted or severe injury can occur. Your safest bet is to use 3% food grade peroxide and dilute it as indicated in the chart provided below so you end up with a solution of 0.1%.

hydrogen peroxide dilution chart

It’s interesting to note that even nebulizing normal saline may be an effective treatment for acute viral bronchiolitis, a viral infection in the small airways of your lungs.21 So while saline is considered the “inert” substance in the solution — and is often used as a placebo in trials that evaluate nebulized drugs — it may have benefits of its own.

I recommend using nebulized peroxide for any suspected respiratory infection, and the earlier you start, the better. There is no danger in doing it every day if you’re frequently exposed, and there may even be additional beneficial effects, such as a rapid rise in your blood oxygen level.

It is important to understand that this is a protocol that you need to implement BEFORE you attempt to treat COVID. Since early treatment is vital, ideally on Day 1, you want to have the nebulizer and materials already in your house ready to go. I would avoid using a battery powered hand held nebulizer and rather opt for a unit you plug into the wall.

You can find them on eBay or Amazon but make sure they have a face mask and not just a mouthpiece as you want to put the mist into your nose in addition to your lungs as many of the viruses lodge there and if you merely use a mouthpiece you will not reach these viral particles. This is an example of one that plugs in the wall and has a face mask.

Category:

Treatment, Viruses

Lyme Disease Manifesting as Wenckebach Heart Block

https://danielcameronmd.com/lyme-disease-heart-block-can-progress-rapidly/

Lyme disease and the heart, when AV block progresses rapidly

woman with lyme disease and heart problems sitting on bed

Lyme carditis occurs when Borrelia burgdorferi, the pathogen which causes Lyme disease, burrows into the heart tissue. It’s considered a rare manifestation but can be deadly if not treated promptly. These case reports, featuring an elderly man and young woman, demonstrate just how rapidly a heart block in Lyme carditis can progress.

By Dr. Daniel Cameron

Lyme disease can trigger various heart problems, including Lyme carditis, which typically occurs early on in the disease.  “Lyme carditis is an important reversible cause of heart block, especially in endemic areas,” wrote Aljadba et al. in their article, “Lyme carditis manifesting as Wenckebach heart block.”¹ “Prompt recognition of this potentially lethal condition, with appropriate initiation of antibiotics, can improve clinical outcomes and avoid unnecessary pacemaker implantation.”

72-year-old man: heart block worsens overnight

A 72-year-old man presented to the emergency department with left-sided chest tightness, lightheadedness, presyncope and a mild shortness of breath. While hospitalized, the man’s condition quickly escalated. Overnight, he developed symptomatic bradycardia with his heart rate dropping to 30 – 40 beats per minute.

His initial EKG was normal but a repeat test showed “sinus bradycardia with Mobitz type 1 (Wenckebach) heart block and progressive prolonged PR interval,” the authors wrote.

A Western blot test was positive for Lyme disease with 10 out of 10 bands reactive.

The man was treated successfully with IV ceftriaxone.

“Lyme carditis typically resolves with antibiotic treatment alone and cardiac intervention is often not needed.”¹

After 7 days of treatment with IV antibiotics, the patient’s heart block and bradycardia resolved completely without the need for a temporary pacemaker.

An atrioventricular (AV) block can present with varying degrees of severity. Although an AV block is typically mild, it can progress rapidly, as demonstrated in this case.

“[Lyme carditis] should be on the differential [diagnosis] and appropriate workup done when a patient presents with a heart block, especially in an endemic area.”¹

Lyme carditis may be the initial presenting symptom and typically occurs 1-2 months after the infection.  Although rare, it can also manifest as endocarditis, myocarditis, pericarditis, dilated cardiomyopathy, and heart failure.

33-year-old woman: third-degree heart block within hours

The study, “Lyme Carditis: An Interesting Trip to Third-Degree Heart Block and Back” by Afari and colleagues² demonstrates the importance of reviewing a patient’s travel history during their medical workup and providing prompt treatment.

A young woman, age 33, presented to the emergency department during the summer, complaining of intermittent, dull chest discomfort, which had occurred over a 3-day period. She also exhibited a shortness of breath and lightheadedness.

Three weeks earlier, she had been admitted to the emergency department with photophobia, headache and fever (101.4°F).

READ MORE: 20-year-old camp counselor develops heart block due to Lyme disease 

One month prior to her onset of symptoms, the woman had been hiking in the New Hampshire mountains.

A spinal tap was negative for Lyme disease. But the patient had a 5cm circular EM rash on her neck.

“An initial electrocardiogram showed a first-degree AV block,” the authors wrote. “A presumptive diagnosis of early disseminated phase of Lyme disease was made, and the patient was admitted to the cardiac telemetry floor.”²

Several hours after she was admitted to the hospital, the woman developed second-degree heart block and shortly afterwards, complete heart block.

Lyme disease tests were positive by Western blot. (IgG bands: 28, 30, 39, 41, 45, and 58 and IgM: 39 and 41)

The woman was diagnosed with Lyme disease based on the presence of an EM (erythema migrans) rash and a positive Western blot test.

“As demonstrated in this case, the worsening of the degree of AV block may occur within minutes.”²

After receiving three doses of ceftriaxone, tests revealed that the complete heart block had regressed back to Mobitz Type 1 AV block and then first-degree AV block.

One month after treatment, the patient’s symptoms had completely resolved.

According to the authors, this case highlights:

  • How rapidly the conduction disorder in Lyme carditis can fluctuate; thus it is very important that patients carrying this diagnosis are admitted to the telemetry unit;
  • The importance of considering Lyme disease as an etiology of acute AV nodal conduction disorders in patients who present with cardiac symptoms;
  • The importance of taking a good travel history.

The importance of appropriate and timely therapy to prevent unnecessary interventions such as permanent pacemaker insertion.

Related Articles:

Lyme carditis causes heart block in 26-year-old man
Temporary pacemaker effective in acute Lyme carditis patient with severe heart block
First case of reversible complete heart block due to Lyme disease reported in Canada

References:
  1. Aljadba I, Suresh K, Hussain K M (November 04, 2021) Lyme Carditis Manifesting as Wenckebach Heart Block. Cureus 13(11): e19251. DOI
    10.7759/cureus.19251
  2. Maxwell Eyram Afari, Fady Marmoush, Mobeen Ur Rehman, Umama Gorsi, Joseph F. Yammine, “Lyme Carditis: An Interesting Trip to Third-Degree Heart Block and Back”, Case Reports in Cardiology, vol. 2016, Article ID 5454160, 3 pages, 2016. https://doi.org/10.1155/2016/5454160

Category:

Heart Issues, Lyme, research, Treatment

Misdiagnosed Woman Needs Urgent Treatment for Chronic Lyme

https://www.rsvplive.ie/life/kerry-teacher-karin-oshea-needs-26226707  Video Here

Kerry teacher Karin O’Shea needs urgent treatment for chronic Lyme disease after being misdiagnosed for 12 years

By Aoife Breslin

Feb. 14, 2022

With only one option left, housebound Kerry woman Karin O’Shea must go to Germany in order to receive urgent treatment for Chronic Lyme disease after believing her diagnosis to be Fibromyalgia for 12 years

Kerry woman Karin O’Shea contracted Lyme disease from the bite of a tick when she was a teenager and went undiagnosed for 12 years.

Now, she needs urgent treatment.

When Karin became ill in her teens, she was misdiagnosed with Fibromyalgia. She was able to manage her symptoms through medication and lived a normal life.

In 2020, the 26-year-old saw a rapid deterioration in her health. After endless GP visits, countless consultants, MRI’s, X-rays and hospital admissions, there were no answers.

Speaking with RSVP Live, Karin shared her experience:

“Me and my GP extended every avenue but there were still no answers.

“So, I had to send my bloods to Germany myself to test for Lyme disease and the results came back positive, as well as showing chronic immune suppression.”

Karin was tested for Lyme disease under the Irish system when she was 14 years old, but her results came back negative.

This was due to her chronic immune suppression; her body wasn’t creating enough antibodies and the Irish system detects antibodies in order to get results. (See link for article and video)

__________________

**Comment**

Another heart-breaking story of misdiagnosis which has caused yet another case to fester and worsen.

SUMMARY:

  • O Shea finally obtained appropriate treatment which included 5 antibiotics a day.
  • Due to her late stage case, she had horrific side-effects, and her body rejected the treatment.
  • Patient is now housebound due to severe neurological symptoms.
  • Her remaining option is to travel to Germany for a month of intensive treatment followed by a 6 months of rehabilitation.
  • She’s been told she has a 70% chance of obtaining remission and should get quality of life back.

O Shea’s advice to others:

“I want people to know if you do get a tick bite, go straight to the doctor and demand two weeks antibiotics, regardless of if you have the bulls-eye rash or not.

I couldn’t agree more, but I’d demand a month’s worth. 

She also states that she was untreated because she never got the EM rash.  She then states that only 50% get the rash, but it can actually be far less than that, is highly variable, and should never be used to keep people from being diagnosed.  While the EM rash IS DIAGNOSTIC for Lyme, not having it means nothing.

The article doesn’t mention co-infections which are almost always an issue with chronic patients and require other medications.  They also make cases much more severe.  My educated guess is she’s going to St. George Hospital where she will be treated with hypothermia and IV antibiotics, among other modalities.  Here’s the story of a woman who got this treatment.  I also write about the treatment in the comment section as well as questions I posed to Dr. Douwes, head of St. George Hospital, when he spoke at an ILADS convention.

If you want to support Karin on her journey to recovery click here.

For more:

Category:

Activism, Lyme, Testing, Ticks, Treatment

Ivermectin Beats Out 9 Other Meds For Treating Omicron, Study Confirms

**UPDATE Feb. 17, 2022**

True to form, the day after this information about ivermectin is disseminated, Medpage Today comes out with yet another trash piece on ivermectin.  Mainstream media is also guilty.  Rather than discussing solid data, science, and the fact it has worked even on the most severe cases, the article focuses on a singular doctor on twitter who states FLCCC’s therapies for Long COVID is like “throwing spaghetti against the wall,” as well as, “Throwing 20 medications (9 are prescription) at a problem with minimal (or no) evidence is irresponsible. As we will see, this is both unethical & likely harmful.” ~ Nick Mark, MD

Lyme/MSIDS patients and Lyme literate doctors take note of this attack because the same thing has been said about effective treatments for tick-borne illness due to the fact pathogens cause severe immune dysfunction and can affect every organ in the human body – similarly to COVID.  FLCCC has figured this out and is addressing multiple issues the body is contending with when infected with COVID. 

Go here for today’s summit called “Gold Standard COVID Science in Practice.”

Go here to watch a short but crucial video on the effectiveness of ivermectin and HCQ by America’s Front-line Doctors (AFLDS).

https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/ivermectin-beats-meds-treating-omicron

Ivermectin Beats Out 9 Other Meds for Treating Omicron, Study Confirms

Researchers used computational analyses to evaluate the performance of 10 medications against the Omicron variant, finding ivermectin outperformed all of them, including nirmatrelvir (Paxlovid), a new drug from Pfizer that has cost taxpayers $5.29 billion and costs $529 per course of treatment.

Newest ivermectin study showed best results against COVID.

Story at-a-glance: 

  • Researchers used computational analyses to evaluate the performance of 10 medications against the Omicron variant, finding that ivermectin outperformed all of them, including nirmatrelvir (Paxlovid) a new drug from Pfizer that has cost taxpayers $5.29 billion and costs $529 per course of treatment.
  • Ivermectin lowers the viral load by inhibiting replication, reduces infection by 86% when used preventively, speeds recovery, protects against organ damage, lowers the risk of hospitalization and death and costs between $48 and $95 for a course of treatment depending on your location.
  • Early treatment lowers your risk of long COVID, which includes physical and mental health conditions. According to cardiologist Dr. Peter McCullough, 50% of those sick enough to be hospitalized have symptoms of long COVID.
  • Africa has a lower number of cases, severity of disease, hospitalizations and deaths than other areas of the world, which may be due to using prophylactic medications for endemic infections that have successfully treated COVID.

At nearly no other time in history has there been this level of fear generated across the world as experienced thus far in 2020 and 2021. The depth and breadth of the strategies used to stoke those fears have been overwhelming.

Emergency use authorizations for drugs that have not proven to be effective in trials, public mask mandates for which there is no scientific evidence and the suppression and censorship of health information has boosted public fear over a viral illness with a survival rate of over 99%.

Unfortunately, many of the early effective treatment strategies that can be used at home have also fallen victim to censorship. Ivermectin is one of those strategies. In a computational analysis of the Omicron variant against several therapeutic agents, data show that ivermectin had the best results.

Yet, as you look objectively at what’s been happening across the world, the fear being generated is not one-sided. The suppression of information by corporations, government agencies and the pharmaceutical industry is one indication of their concern and how far they’re willing to go to ensure the level of fear remains high enough to manipulate behavior.

Consider the statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 2019, 4.6% of the U.S. population was diagnosed with heart disease. The population at the end of 2019 was 328,239,523.

This means there were 15,099,018 people with heart disease in the U.S. in 2019. There were 696,962 people who died that year from heart disease, which is a death rate of 4.6%.

This is 20 times greater than the death rate from COVID-19. Yet these same agencies were not lobbying for mandates against soda or sugar-laden foods — they weren’t banning smoking and they weren’t mandating exercise — all heart disease risk factors.

The censorship and suppression of information has hobbled early treatment of COVID-19 in many western nations. Through 2020, public health experts and the mainstream media warned against the use of hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin.

Both are on the World Health Organization’s list of essential drugs, but the benefits have been ignored by public health officials and buried by the media.

Newest ivermectin study showed best results against COVID

This study on Cornell University’s preprint website has not yet been peer-reviewed. Researchers used a computational analysis to look at the Omicron variant, which has demonstrated a lower clinical presentation and lower hospital admission rates.

After having retrieved the complete genome sequence and collecting 30 variants from the database, the researchers analyzed 10 drugs against the virus, including:

Binding energy of promising drugs
Binding energy of promising drugs against main protease of Omicron variant.

The researchers found that each of the drugs had some degree of effectiveness against the virus and most were currently in clinical trials. They used molecular docking to find that the mutations in the Omicron variant didn’t significantly affect the interaction between the drugs and the main protease.

An analysis of all 10 drugs found that ivermectin was the most effective drug candidate against the Omicron variant. The testing included Nirmatrelvir (Paxlovid), which is the new protease inhibitor for which the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) provided an emergency use authorization against COVID in December 2021.

In other words, Pfizer released a new drug which cost the U.S. taxpayers $5.29 billion or $529 per course of treatment and which received an EUA despite the availability of a similar drug that has proven to be more effective and is cheaper.

How ivermectin works

Ivermectin is best known for its antiparasitic properties. Yet, the drug also has antiviral and anti-inflammatory properties. Studies have shown that ivermectin helps to lower the viral load by inhibiting replication.

A single dose of ivermectin can kill 99.8% of the virus within 48 hours.

A meta-analysis in the American Journal of Therapeutics showed the drug reduced infection by an average of 86% when used preventively. An observational study in Bangladesh evaluated the effectiveness of ivermectin as a prophylaxis for COVID-19 in health care workers.

The data showed four of the 58 volunteers who took 12 mg of ivermectin once a month for four months developed mild COVID symptoms as compared to 44 of the 60 health care workers who declined the medication.

Ivermectin has also been shown to speed recovery, in part by inhibiting inflammation and protecting against organ damage. This pathway also lowers the risk of hospitalization and death. Meta analyses have shown an average reduction in mortality that ranges from 75% to 83%.

Additionally, the drug also prevents transmission of SARS-CoV-2 when taken before or after exposure. Added together, these benefits make it clear that ivermectin could all but eliminate this pandemic.

Early intervention lowers long COVID and hospitalization

Some people who have had COVID-19 seem to be unable to fully recover and complain of lingering symptoms of chronic fatigue. Others struggle with mental health problems.

One study, in November 2020, found 18.1% of people who had COVID-19 received their first psychiatric diagnosis in the 14 to 90 days after recovery. Most commonly diagnosed conditions were anxiety disorders, insomnia and dementia.

These symptoms have come to be called long COVID, long-haul COVID, post-COVID syndrome, chronic COVID or long-haul syndrome. They all refer to symptoms that persist for four more weeks after an initial COVID-19 infection.

According to Dr. Peter McCullough (5:43), board-certified internist and cardiologist, 50% of those who have been sick enough to be hospitalized will have symptoms of long COVID:

“So, the sicker someone is, and the longer the duration of COVID, the more likely they are to have long COVID syndrome. That’s the reason why we like early treatment. We shorten the duration of symptoms and there’s less of a chance for long COVID syndrome.”

Some of the common symptoms of long COVID include shortness of breath, joint pain, memory, concentration or sleeping problems, muscle pain or headache and loss of smell or taste.

According to McCullough (6:05), a paper presented by Dr. Bruce Patterson at the International COVID Summit in Rome, Sept. 11 to 14, 2021:

“… showed that in individuals who’ve had significant COVID illness, 15 months later the s1 segment of the spike protein is recoverable from human monocytes. That means the body literally has been sprayed with the virus and it spends 15 months, in a sense, trying to clean out the spike protein from our tissues. No wonder people have long COVID syndrome.”

It should come as no surprise that studies have also confirmed that early intervention improves mortality and reduces hospitalizations. Perhaps one of the greatest crimes in this whole pandemic is the refusal by reigning health authorities to issue early treatment guidance.

Instead, they’ve done everything possible to suppress remedies shown to work. Patients were simply told to stay home and do nothing. Once the infection had worsened to the point of near-death, patients were told to go to the hospital, where most were routinely placed on mechanical ventilation — a practice that was quickly discovered to be lethal.

However, as the featured study and others have demonstrated, ivermectin is one of the successful treatment protocols that can be used against SARS-CoV-2.

Africa has lowest case and death rate, likely from ivermectin

Across the world, countries have taken different approaches to address the spread of the virus. The steps taken in Africa varied depending on the country, yet the infection and death rates were relatively stable and low across the continent.

In the last year there have been reports of small areas in the world where the number of infections, deaths or case-fatality rates have been significantly lower than the rest of the world. For example, India’s Uttar Pradesh State reported a recovery rate of 98.6% and no further infections.

However, the entire continent of Africa appears to have sidestepped the massive number of infections and deaths predicted for these poorly funded countries with overcrowded cities. Early estimations were that millions would die, but that scenario has not materialized.

The World Health Organization has called Africa “one of the least affected regions in the world.”

There are several factors that may influence the infection rate in Africa. A study from Japan (1.25) demonstrates that after just 12 days that doctors were allowed to legally prescribe ivermectin to their patients, the cases dropped dramatically.

The chairman of the Tokyo Medical Association had noticed the low number of infections and deaths in Africa, where many use ivermectin prophylactically and as the core strategy to treat onchocerciasis, a parasitic disease also known as river blindness.

More than 99% of people infected with river blindness live in 31 African countries.

In addition to ivermectin use in Africa, other medications are also commonly available, such as hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine, which have long been used in the treatment and prevention of malaria, also endemic in Africa.

In America, Dr. Vladimir Zelenko has published successful results using hydroxychloroquine and zinc against COVID-19.

Finally, Artemisia annua, also known as sweet wormwood, is an herb used in combination therapies to treat malaria. It was used in traditional Chinese medicine for more than 2,000 years to treat fever.

Today artemisinin, a metabolite of Artemisia, is the current therapeutic option for malaria. The plant has also been studied since the 2003 SARS outbreak for the treatment of coronaviruses, with good results.

In other words, whether by design or default, the medications that have proven to be successful against the virus are commonly used in Africa for other health conditions.

While Pfizer tests the short- and long-term effects of a genetic experiment on Israel’s population, it appears one continent has demonstrated administration of a 30-year-old, inexpensive drug with a known safety profile could reduce the cases, severity and mortality from this infection.

The question that must be asked and answered to get to the bottom of this plandemic is what is blinding mainstream media, government agencies, public health experts, medical associations, doctors, nurses and your next-door neighbor from recognizing and speaking out in support of science?

Originally published by Mercola.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of Children’s Health Defense.

© [2/16/22] Children’s Health Defense, Inc. This work is reproduced and distributed with the permission of Children’s Health Defense, Inc. Want to learn more from Children’s Health Defense? Sign up for free news and updates from Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and the Children’s Health Defense. Your donation will help to support us in our efforts.

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**Comment**

Dr. Robert Califf, head of FDA under the Obama administration, is back as head of the FDA. Under his watch, he helped Big Pharma reap in record profits and sales and shielded them from any liability due to the opioid crisis. An FDA exec was taped by Project Veritas proving that the FDA is utterly controlled by Big Pharma. The fraud, collusion, and conflicts of interests are all exposed, plain as day, yet the lawlessness continues.

For more:

It’s gotten so bad, state attorney generals have had to call out the FDA, CDC, Fauci, and the media for ‘fueling confusion and misinformation’ by interfering with the treatment of COVID patients.  Both Nebraska and Oklahoma doctors are now free to prescribe off-label medications such as ivermectin and HCQ for COVID without fear of disciplinary action from corrupt groups like the AMA and state medical boards.

This legal action needs to happen in each and every state in the U.S.

Category:

Treatment, Viruses