1/ Great thread here by my old friend @CharlesBHolmes.
Regeneron's press release (not a study!) didn't comment on side-effects. With other monoclonal antibodies, side-effects have included fever, chills, weakness, headache, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, low blood pressure, & rash.
2/ More severe side-effects may include: life-threatening anaphylaxis, cytokine release syndrome (also caused by COVID), cardiac toxicity, clotting dysfunction, immune-related effects, infections, autoimmunity, and off-target effects.
3/ The Regeneron monoclonal antibody cocktail is so new we don't yet have data on its side-effects. And it hasn't been tested in older patients, like the president.
4/ Yes, monoclonal antibodies are a promising approach for the treatment of COVID (more here: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/s1e…), but I find it perplexing that such an experimental drug with unknown risk profile would be given to the president.
5/ I also think it's strange that the decision to treat the president with monoclonal antibodies was made without consultation with an infectious disease specialist or members of the WH Coronavirus Taskforce, who are among the world's leading experts (e.g. Dr. Fauci).
6/ It's certainly possible that the president's decompensation and need for hospitalization could be due to the monoclonal antibody cocktail, but in the absence of information and transparency on the part of the WH, it's impossible to know.
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1/ New Hope Against Dementia: study says singles vaccine also appears to delay onset of dementia
with @CBSMornings' @tonydokoupil @AdrianaDiaz @nateburleson
2/ A study published yesterday in Nature Medicine found that the new Shingrix vaccine was more protective than the old Zostavax vaccine in delaying dementia.
The Zostavax shingles vaccine was discontinued after the Shingrix vaccine was approved.
1/ Tick-borne infections are on the rise around the country
with @CBSMornings @GayleKing @tonydokoupil @nateburleson
2/ A unique collaboration among hunters,
the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department @TPWDnews,
& researchers at @Baylor University
is helping to map what tick-borne diseases can be found where.
3/ Lyme disease is the most common tick-borne infection in the US, but it's far from the only one. hopkinslymetracker.org
1/ #H5N1 bird flu update on @CBSMornings with @GayleKing @vladduthiersCBS @nateburleson
Who's at risk for bird flu right now?
🔹You're at risk if you're a dairy farmworker &/or if you drink raw milk.
2/
🔹If the virus mutates (which is what viruses do!) & becomes transmissible between humans, we could have a pandemic virus on our hands.
3/ 🔹Flu viruses can mutate incrementally (drift) or dramatically (shift).
🔹We see dramatic shifts when 2 flu virus strains infect the same animal or person.
🔹Those 2 flu strains can swap "body parts" & form a Frankenstein virus.