# Coronavirus COVID-19 (2019-nCoV) Thread - 2021 Breaking News **URL:** \ **Category:** The Quarantine Zone\ **Tags:** covid-quarantine\ **Created:** [January 1, 2021, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428 "2021-01-01T08:03:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 20
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2021, 9:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428/383 "2021-01-31T09:04:21Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Has anyone seen reports lately about the drug Aplidin (generic name: plitidepsin) to kill the virus? It’s a known drug, used mainly to treat multiple myeloma Looks like it is still only in clinical trials for cancer treatment > **[Plitidepsin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plitidepsin)** > > Plitidepsin (also known as dehydrodidemnin B, marketed by PharmaMar, S.A. under the trade name Aplidin) is a chemical compound extracted from the ascidian Aplidium albicans. It is currently undergoing clinical trial testing. It is a member of the class of compounds known as didemnins. > Plitidepsin is a cyclic depsipeptide, meaning it is a cyclic peptide in which there is one or more ester bond in place of one or more of a peptide bond. Its chemical structure is very close to that of didemnin B, ... and the class of molecule is highly cytotoxic (meaning that taking it is an act of desperation hoping to kill the bad cells slightly sooner than it would kill _all_ cells) > **[Didemnin](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Didemnin)** > > Didemnins are cyclic depsipeptide compounds isolated from a tunicate (ascidian, or sea-squirt) of the genus Trididemnum (family of Didemnidæ) that were collected in the Caribbean Sea. They were first isolated in 1978 at the University of Illinois. > Although more than nine didemnins (didemnins A-E, G, X and Y) have been isolated from the extract of Trididemnum solidum, didemnin B is the one that possesses the most potent biological activities. It is a strong antiviral agent against both DNA and RN... Also, to avoid confusion, please refer to it as ( _S_ )- _N_ -(( _R_ )-1-(((3 _S_ ,6 _R_ ,7 _S_ ,10 _R_ ,11 _S_ ,15 _S_ ,17 _S_ ,20 _S_ ,25a _S_ )-10-(( _S_ )- _sec_ -butyl)-11-hydroxy-20-isobutyl-15-isopropyl-3-(4-methoxybenzyl)-2,6,17-trimethyl-1,4,8,13,16,18,21-heptaoxodocosahydro-1 _H_ -pyrrolo[2,1- _f_][1,15,4,7,10,20]dioxatetraazacyclotricosin-7-yl)amino)-4-methyl-1-oxopentan-2-yl)- _N_ -methyl-1-(2-oxopropanoyl)pyrrolidine-2-carboxamide. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2021, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428/384 "2021-01-31T15:25:23Z")
> [@DMC](#): > > Let them get through some real human trials and see where it lands. > [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Looks like it is still only in clinical trials for cancer treatment It’s very early days, but according to this: [https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/record/NCT04382066](https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/record/NCT04382066) -a study completed in Dec 2020. The summary describes it as Phase I, but the drug is already licensed and there were also efficacy endpoints in the study (plus it’s called a proof of concept study) so I would say Phase I/II (though a study of 46 patients is not going to tell you a whole helluva lot). > This study aims to assess safety and toxicity profile and also preliminary efficacy of plitidepsin at each dose level administered according to the proposed administration scheme in patients with COVID-19 who require hospital admission. Main objective is to select the recommended dose levels of plitidepsin for a future phase II / III efficacy study. The summary has no results reported and I haven’t found eg a pre-publication yet. If something has been posted, that would explain the uptick in interest. I’ll keep looking. j ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2021, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428/385 "2021-01-31T15:42:04Z")
> [@DMC](#): > > I’d possibly pay that research more attention if they weren’t [a lot of the same people who told us hydroxychloroquine was promising back in April](https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/New-UCSF-study-finds-potential-drugs-for-treating-15235804.php). While I would love for us to find something that would easily make this all go away, we’ve seen that promise before. Let them get through some real human trials and see where it lands. > > In the meantime, we have vaccines that have actually worked their way through the process and have been proven effective. But hydroxychloroquine WAS promising, with good results in vitro. It was well worth testing, including testing it in desperate patients, as it’s not terribly toxic. That drug didn’t pan out in vivo. But that doesn’t mean it’s not worth checking other drugs that might be helpful. ---
**Author:** ![FigNorton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fignorton/32/5619_2.png) [@FigNorton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FigNorton)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2021, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428/386 "2021-01-31T16:01:44Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > That drug didn’t pan out in vivo. But that doesn’t mean it’s not worth checking other drugs that might be helpful. It does mean we should not listen to breathless press reports about in vitro results. Pretty sure that was DMC’s point. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2021, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428/387 "2021-01-31T16:33:39Z")
I quite agree. But i don’t think the article linked was especially breathless. It was clear that it’s just getting tested at this point, for instance. ---
**Author:** ![DMC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dmc/32/18049_2.png) [@DMC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMC)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2021, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428/388 "2021-01-31T18:05:11Z")
> [@FigNorton](#): > > It does mean we should not listen to breathless press reports about in vitro results. Pretty sure that was DMC’s point. Correct. I was pretty clear that I would love for one of these to pan out and we should test all of them, but that doctors shouldn’t be prescribing them to all of their patients at this time. It became difficult to get hydroxychloroquine for those who needed it for its intended purpose and also for those who needed it for trials thanks to hoarding by others. In the meantime, that was a pretty long list I provided and every single one of them (and more) was at one point or another “effective against COVID-19” in various places. This one appears to look decent after Phase 2 trials, so let’s hope Phase 3 pans out. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2021, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428/389 "2021-01-31T19:28:07Z")
> [@DMC](#): > > This one appears to look decent after Phase 2 trials, so let’s hope Phase 3 pans out. Have you found any results from that Phase I/II study? I didn’t see anything yet. However, I did see this: > PharmaMar said it was in talks with various regulatory agencies - the most advanced ones being with the Spanish and British regulators - to start Phase III trials. They are deciding how many patients should be included in the trial. > > “At first we are not targeting ICU patients, there will be hospitalized patients, but doctors are collaborating with us to identify the different phases a sick person goes through, and determine which would be ideal to focus on to produce the best results we can get from plitidepsin,” he said. [Source](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-pharmamar-idUSKBN29V0ON) (I imagine most readers of this thread understand the phases of clinical trials by now - but just to be sure, Phase III is the biggie used to licence the drug.) j ---
**Author:** ![DMC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dmc/32/18049_2.png) [@DMC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMC)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2021, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428/390 "2021-01-31T19:46:29Z")
> [@Treppenwitz](#): > > Have you found any results from that Phase I/II study? The Science article that **Senegoid** posted has a link to the paper itself. [This article](https://www.fiercebiotech.com/research/cancer-drug-extracted-from-sea-squirt-better-inhibits-covid-19-than-remdesivir-lab) references a second paper as well and states that the results warrant continued and expanded research. So far, so good. Now let’s move forward with the next phase. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2021, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428/391 "2021-01-31T20:01:19Z")
OK, those are both pre-clin (mouse; and human gastrointestinal and lung epithelial cell lines respectively). So far as I can tell, the Phase I/II study I linked to is the only plitidepsin study performed in COVID patients. I would love to see the results of that. On the face of it, it looks like that was _the_ dose-ranging for the Phase III study - unless it’s Phase II/III with a further dose ranging element at the beginning. Hectic times. j ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2021, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428/392 "2021-01-31T20:26:04Z")
> [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](#): > > > Wearing **two face masks** during the pandemic may be a super-effective way to protect yourself against new coronavirus variants. > > Then, same article… > > > When it comes to cloth masks, [evidence](https://vtnews.vt.edu/articles/2020/11/eng-marrmasks-1123.html) suggests **three layers** of tightly woven fabric are the way to go. Maybe yours is a whoosh, [but many masks that are single use do have three layers of fabric.](https://www.google.com/search?q=single+use+3+layer+masks&safe=off&client=firefox-b-1-d&sxsrf=ALeKk01alDj7s39zgKRz5gBBPt4m2neKwA:1612124441037&source=lnms&tbm=shop&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjs1JDF_8buAhWsCjQIHd9VBSUQ_AUoAXoECBIQAw&biw=1536&bih=694) So it is more likely that the advise refers to 2 masks if they are not the three layer kind. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2021, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428/393 "2021-01-31T20:27:48Z")
On a very sad bit of news: > **[Captain Sir Tom Moore admitted to hospital with coronavirus](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jan/31/captain-sir-tom-moore-tests-positive-for-covid-19-and-is-in-hospital)** > > Fundraiser aged 100, knighted after raising £38.9m for the NHS, is being treated for pneumonia ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2021, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428/394 "2021-01-31T20:35:31Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > It seems Austria may now have the same problem, in the personage of FPÖ parliamentary leader Herbert Kickl. There’s going to be yet another anti-lockdown protest in Vienna on Sunday, and he’s attached to it as one of the star speakers. He’s already lent his name and face to a series of political ads attacking the coronavirus vaccine. Not long after I posted the above, the police withdrew permission for this demo (or rather, a cluster of related demos). But today 5000 people showed up anyway to protest the lockdown and/or the very notion that the coronavirus exists. There’s been ample coverage of the event in both English and German media (see for example articles in [_The Guardian_](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jan/31/hundreds-arrested-at-anti-lockdown-protests-in-brussels-budapest-and-vienna) and [_Der Standard_](https://www.derstandard.at/story/2000123763431/5-000-gegner-der-coronamassnahmen-demonstrierten-trotz-verbotin-wien)) but to briefly summarize: - The protests kicked off at 11:00 with a demonstration by certain Christians who claim that prayer to Jesus is the only effective cure for coronavirus. - As the day went on, thousands more people amassed downtown, including the usual lot of right-wing extremists and [identitarians](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Identitarian_movement). Organizers tried to bus people into the city in rented coaches; police were able to intercept many of these. (Tour buses are pretty conspicuous these days due to the lockdown; hotels are closed to tourists.) - Herbert Kickl and the FPÖ stayed away, obeying the law, but their supporters were highly visible in the crowd, with many waving banners with FPÖ slogans. - The demonstrators attempted to march down the Ringstraße, Vienna’s grand boulevard, but since their permits had been withdrawn, they had to contend with the city’s usual Sunday traffic. - Riot police were deployed in the city, though were vastly outnumbered by the protestors, and so couldn’t do much to stop the ones who made it downtown. - The demonstration seems to have been largely peaceful, though not without a few skirmishes. Ten police were reported as being injured, and an undisclosed number of protestors were arrested. Also, some protestors attempted to direct the crowd to the chancellor’s private residence by circulating his address on social media, but this proposal doesn’t appear to have gained any traction. (Maybe the protestors are all upstanding, non-violent citizens, or maybe they just couldn’t be bothered to trudge the seven kilometres to Meidling in near-freezing weather.) ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2021, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428/395 "2021-01-31T22:19:17Z")
> [@DMC](#): > > This one appears to look decent after Phase 2 trials, so let’s hope Phase 3 pans out. Hey-ho. This is what you get if you skim publications. Have I just found what you were referring to? In the [Science preclin publication](https://science.sciencemag.org/content/early/2021/01/22/science.abf4058) there are these throwaway lines: > Plitidepsin has also **successfully completed** a phase I/II clinical study for the treatment of COVID-19 (20, 21) by the pharmaceutical company PharmaMar and is moving forward into a Phase II/III COVID-19 study. My Bold. What a tease! No further information - the refs just take you to study protocol synopses in English (discussed post 383) and Spanish. j ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2021, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428/396 "2021-02-01T05:42:11Z")
103,528,819 total cases 2,237,790 dead 75,130,246 recovered In the US: 26,767,229 total cases 452,279 dead 16,403,843 recovered Yesterday’s numbers for comparison: > [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > 103,138,668 total cases > 2,229,505 dead > 74,759,867 recovered > > In the US: > > 26,655,740 total cases > 450,381 dead > 16,328,950 recovered ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2021, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428/397 "2021-02-01T07:46:35Z")
I’m not going to re-read the plitidepsin article again just to find the minor points, but I do think I recall seeing these details: - It’s already authorized for use in Australia for treating multiple myeloma. - The dosage they are testing for Covid, IIRC, is some small fraction of the dosage they are using for the cancer treatment, and seems to have a fairly safe toxicity profile. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2021, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428/398 "2021-02-01T17:02:17Z")
Still no new record highs in daily reported cases in any state in well over a week. And the number of new reported cases is still going down in the country as a whole. That’s some kind of progress, at least. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2021, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428/399 "2021-02-01T17:56:18Z")
> **[New diabetes cases linked to covid-19](https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/02/01/covid-new-onset-diabetes/?utm_campaign=wp_post_most&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl_most&carta-url=https%3A%2F%2Fs2.washingtonpost.com%2Fcar-ln-tr%2F2f11b55%2F60182e419d2fda4c88cf2844%2F5e7cdc91ae7e8a5948c07b96%2F47%2F68%2F60182e419d2fda4c88cf2844)** > > Researchers don’t understand exactly how the disease might trigger diabetes, or whether the cases are temporary or permanent. But 14 percent of those with severe covid developed the condition, one analysis found. Washington Post, but might not be paywalled as it’s coronovirus news. Some of it quoted below, in case. More research needed, from the look of the article. > Although covid-19 often attacks the lungs, it is increasingly associated with a range of problems [url deleted] including blood clots ([url deleted], neurological disorders, and kidney and heart damage. Researchers say new-onset diabetes may soon be added to those complications — both Type 1[url deleted], in which people cannot make the insulin needed to regulate their blood sugar, and Type 2, [url deleted] in which they make too little insulin or become resistant to their insulin, causing their blood sugar levels to rise. But scientists do not know whether covid-19 might hasten already developing problems or actually cause them — or both. > > [. . .] > > As many as 14.4 percent of people hospitalized with severe covid-19 developed diabetes, according to a global analysis [published](https://dom-pubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/dom.14269) Nov. 27 in the journal Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism. The international group of researchers sifted through reports of uncontrolled hyperglycemia, or high blood sugar, in more than 3,700 covid-19 patients across eight studies. While those diagnoses might be the result of a long-observed response to severe illness, or to treatment with steroids, the authors wrote, a direct effect from covid-19 “should also be considered.” > > Concerns that covid-19 might be directly implicated also were supported, they said, by the exceptionally high doses of insulin that diabetes patients with severe covid-19 often require and the dangerous complications they develop. > > [. . .] > > diabetes experts launched a global [registry](http://covidiab.e-dendrite.com/) of patients with covid-19-related diabetes. After they spread the word with an [editorial](https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc2018688) in the New England Journal of Medicine, more than 350 institutions from across the world responded, he said. > > The database is accumulating patients — over 150 so far — although it will take months for researchers to sift through the data to draw any conclusions. “We really need to dig deeper,” Rubino said. “But it sounds like we do have a real problem with covid and diabetes.” ---
**Author:** ![FigNorton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fignorton/32/5619_2.png) [@FigNorton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FigNorton)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2021, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428/400 "2021-02-01T18:04:47Z")
Oh good, another scare story that once again has at its core “might be the result of a long-observed response to severe illness”. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2021, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428/401 "2021-02-01T18:10:42Z")
My sister’s husband nearly died from COVID-19. He lost his hearing, but it has improved. He also became diabetic and is on insulin. ---
**Author:** ![FigNorton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fignorton/32/5619_2.png) [@FigNorton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FigNorton)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2021, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428/402 "2021-02-01T18:16:58Z")
How long ago did he become diabetic? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428.md?page=19) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2021-breaking-news/929428.md?page=21)