Dr S S Rawat's Blog

IL-6 Inhibitors for treatment of severe Covid19  Hyper-inflammation and blood clotting are classic complications as Covid19 progresses in hospitalized patients. Strategies to reduce this include blood thinners, steroids, JAK-STAT inhibitor Baricitnib and IL-6 inhibitor Tocilizumab among others.  A recently published clinical trial from UK demonstrated reduced mortality in severe Covid19 in patients given Interleukin-6 inhibiting monoclonal antibody Tocilizumab. 353 patients were assigned to Tocilizumab group and 402 to control / placebo in this prospective Randomized Controlled Trial. Mortality in Tocilizumab group was 28 % ( 98 / 353 ) while mortality in placebo group was 35.2% ( 142 / 402 ). This was a statistically significant finding which brings 'Toci' back in the limelight in hospital management of severe Covid19.  https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.01.07.21249390v1 Covid-19 Treatment by JAK-STAT Inhibition Olumiant / Baricitinib is a Janus Kinase (JAK ...

 In this blog we will discuss differences between four licenced Covid19 vaccines including Pros and Cons of each type.   Bharat Biotech :  -Inactivated whole virus vaccine: two doses 4 weeks apart Pros: -Generally considered a safe vaccine platform -Time tested and established platform used for various other existing vaccines such as Polio. -Attacks whole virus including Spike protein, nucleocapsid protein etc. In theory, may tackle variants better due to this property. -Safety data from phase 1 and 2 trials matches other vaccine candidates  -Uses strain of virus prevelant in India and phase 3 trial enrolled over 25,000 candidates in India -Stored at normal fridge temperature -Large production and distribution facilities -Affordable price approx $ 4 per dose Cons: -Efficacy can be affected adversely by the extent to which viral proteins are denatured during process of inactivation and data is not available at this time -Inactivated vaccines are typically mildly immun...