Serious infection and SARS from Covid-19 presently has little specific treatment other than ventilator and oxygen, supportive care. We are urgently waiting for vaccination, immune care, antivirals, etc., to be made available for the masses. This was published in JAMA only two days ago, but things are evolving rapidly. Today, I am aware of three new articles, identifying the antiviral properties of chloroquine. I suggest that quinine is an even better agent than chloroquine, in malaria it has less resistance, has been tested and used extensively throughout the world, for more than a century, available ubiquitousl, and is inexpensive. It's safety, side-effects, and contraindications are widely know. It is over-the-counter, versus chloroquine generally requiring a doctor visit and an expensive prescription. Quinine is ubiquitously available as "tonic water" originally as prophylaxis and treatment for malaria. Perhaps this probable prophylactic and therapeutic antiviral agent can prevent the impending catastrophe. One glass of tonic water has about 100mg of quinine, which is a low dose. Not for patients on cardiac medications, side-effects, or complications. Is it time to notify the public that a little tonic water may be considered prudent at this time?
Not double blind research, but something to ponder while "hunkered down" for the next few months, waiting for vaccines, antivirals, hyperimmune serum, masks and respirators. Been in use for over a century. It is published that the juniper berries that flavor gin, are also antiviral. It is interesting that areas that the population is under prophylaxis and treatment for malaria, the Covid-19 may not be infecting as many people. How bad will it be to add a "gin and tonic" to your "hunkering down" routine? (Not for those on cardiac medications, those with allergies to quinine derivatives, pregnant women, adverse reactions, against doctors' recommendation, etc.)
From JAMA, Gary Joseph Ordog, MD published:
March 19, 2020 COVID-19: Can We Expedite Treatment? Gary Ordog, MD, DABMT, DABEM | County of Los Angeles, Physician Specialist, Retired The authors discuss human rights pertaining to avoiding infection during the next 18 months. We are supposed to wait while a vaccine is tested for dosing schedule. "Flattening the curve" may only prolong the inevitable infection with the virus. What are our rights to preventative and curing treatments? The most vulnerable of our population currently appear to be older and medically compromised individuals. Also, the most severely ill will require ventilators, ICU beds and critical care staff, and all are currently utilized to capacity, resulting in an increasing number of newsworthy disasters already. I suggest that prophylaxis and treatment should be made available, as a medical right, in this time of impending catastrophe. Treatments that have not had time to advance to final approval may be beneficial for saving life or limb, with those patients on the exponential end of " the curve" probably glad to sign a 'waiver of liability.' As far as prophylaxis and treatment, I refer first to the vaccines that are being tested correctly and for dosage. With a century of vaccine research, I think they have a pretty good estimate of the required dose. Can we not ramp up production and start giving it to the most vulnerable, at least? Secondly, there are currently thousands of patients who have recovered from COVID-19, can these not be a source of gamma globulin for the more serious ill, at least? Stem cell lines are another possible therqpy. Thirdly, there are various antiviral drugs which are safe and possibly effective but obviously have not had the time to be tested. For example, remdesivir appears to be effective against other Corona viruses, probably would have some effect against Covid-19. Could we not ramp up production of these agents and allow our vulnerable patients to have access to them, when otherwise it looks like high mortality and morbidity, with our only treatment available being "social distancing?" Thank you for allowing me to make these comments.
At the moment I can see people are over doing everything specially the elderly, it’s so hard to reason with them or convince them, It sounds like a great idea to drink a glass of tonic 3 times a day, if people actually fallow, drink the given limit, wouldn’t cardiotoxicity be an issue at some point ???
If you stopped your prophylactic quinine, it is now the time to start up again. Remember, prophylaxis with the small dose, is before exposure, so one little drink everyday.
June 26, 2020: Highest recorded number of new COVID-19 cases in the USA yesterday. The Pandemic is definitely not over. Here is todays headline in Doctors Guide Alerts:
📷COVID-19JUNE 26, 2020
COVID-19: US records more than 37,000 new cases
According to CDC's update on June 25, the case count of COVID-19 in the US stands at 2,374,282* cases, including 121,809* deaths, in 55 (50 states, District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, Northern Marianas, and US Virgin Islands) jurisdictions. This represents an additional 37,667 cases and 692 deaths compared to the update on June 24.
I watched the news this morning, nothing stated about this. If we are not going into Phase Two of the 1918 pandemic curve, then it is still very worrisome. The breakdown of the public health protocols is starting to show up. The massive social unrest did not help this, as has been documented in the massive protests, with a lack of personal viral hygiene. Thank you, stay safe. Gary Ordog, MD June 26, 2020.
There are over 500 plant derived compounds that are being studied for antiviral properties, including against SARS-CoV-2. I t would take a book to described them all. I will only mention a few here. Many others can be searched on the web. First, natural quinine is plant derived, works very well as an antiparasitic, and is the drug of choice when hydroxychloroquine resistant malaria is present. But it is also antiviral, and eradicates the SARS-Cov-2 in vitro experiments. It has been used successfully anecdotally prophylactically, but there are no published double-blind placebo controlled clinical human experiments yet. Then there is resveratrol, again shown to kill SARS-Cov-2 and other coronaviruses in vitro, but not yet published in a well controlled double-blind placebo human clinical study. Nothing is accepted until this gold-standard is met. Coincidentally, resveratrol is used in its natural state (grape-crush) to treat another virus in hogs, "pseudorabies" as the usual "drug of choice." Pseudorabies virus is a candidate for the 'attenuated' carrier virus for a potential SARS-CoV-2 vaccine. The third I will mention, is the chemicals in "black tea." The extract has been shown to eradicate SARS-CoV-2 in vitro, probably due to n-methyl xanthines it contains. Again, no 'gold-standard' studies have been published on this yet. I will point out that currently these should not be considered as treatments or cures, with the information so far showing that they may have some prophylactic properties that may be found to be useful after further clinical study. This is suggested by some anecdotal information to date. There are no studies as to the dose required in the 'gold standard.' A similar statement could be made for hundreds of other plant derived antiviral chemicals. (An anecdote as to the dose question is this: 65% ethanol also kills the SARS-CoV-2; but the amount needed to kill it in a persons body would probably kill the person. So the dose is important in this discussion) July 30, 2020; Gary Ordog, MD Stay safe, thank you.
One hundred and forty years ago this cartoon was published on influenza, notice the figure in the lower right holding a sign advertising "QUININE." Quinine is the original natural chemical of the synthetic analog HCQ. My, how times do not change the basics. Thank you Lancet for republishing this interesting historic cartoon. Gary Joseph Ordog, MD; January 21, 2021.
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