It’s not as if the U.S. monkeypox response has been ideal, but we actually began with a head start. Unlike in the early days of COVID-19, viable vaccines were available for monkeypox in the form of smallpox vaccines.
Remember hydroxychloroquine? Yes, there were anecdotes and observational studies, but, no, it flunked the gold standard for evidence, randomized controlled trials. Ditto with ivermectin.
Now the man named “the most influential spreader of coronavirus misinformation online” is promoting another candidate for magic bullet: vitamin D.
It’s no surprise that in this confusing environment, with millions of patients desperate for help, some companies have taken advantage of how loosely dietary supplement claims are regulated to sell unproven long COVID treatments.
It’s long been held that the more general immune-enhancing characteristics of the century-old bacilli Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine might convey protection against diseases other than TB. Why not Covid-19?
There’s so much COVID-19 misinformation out there, it’s easy to become desensitized to it. But, a recently passed Missouri law (the Gag Rule) takes misinformation to a new height (low?) and may shock even the most cynical among us.
COVID-19Lisa Mankofsky, Esq., Matthew Simon, Esq., Peter Lurie, MD, MPH
To the extent that misinformation has led some to shun proven COVID-19 prevention measures, the two plagues have been in a kind of mutually reinforcing tango since the pandemic’s earliest days.
The Senate demurred on providing any aid to help poorer countries vaccinate their citizens, in effect turning our backs on people who need COVID-19 aid the most. It’s a terrible idea that is likely to backfire on our own country.
