AFRICAN PLUME

This is a comprehensive look at the Great Plague of Marseille. It reexamines the sequence of events and decisions that led to the outbreak of the Great Plague of Marseille between 1720 and 1723. Quite a fascinating read, packed full of rich lessons relevant to the current pandemic. And it is particularly useful for governments of countries, states, and localities who are contemplating reopening, or have already reopened, their societies post COVID-19. The take home message is poignant. When crass concerns for business and commerce trump careful considerations for public health and safety, in the decisions to reopen the society while a pandemic continues to rage and kill, calamity always follows. When profit supersedes protection of human lives, even greater death and destruction are the certain outcome. Lastly, scapegoating, blame shifting, stereotyping, and irrational xenophobia are not novel ideas, they've always been in the toolbox of demagogues. Those who fai...

NIAID/NIH News Release, April 29, 2020 Hospitalized patients with advanced COVID-19 and lung involvement who received remdesivir recovered faster than similar patients who received placebo, according to a preliminary data analysis from a randomized, controlled trial involving 1063 patients, which began on February 21. The trial (known as the Adaptive COVID-19 Treatment Trial, or ACTT), sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), is the first clinical trial launched in the United States to evaluate an experimental treatment for COVID-19. An independent data and safety monitoring board (DSMB) overseeing the trial met on April 27 to review data and shared their interim analysis with the study team. Based upon their review of the data, they noted that remdesivir was better than placebo from the perspective of the primary endpoint, time to recovery, a metric often used in influenza tri...

The WHO Health Emergencies Programme is currently monitoring 109 events in the region. This week’s main articles cover key new and ongoing events, including: o    Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the WHO African Region o    Ebola virus disease in Democratic Republic of the Congo o    Lassa fever in Nigeria Major issues and challenges include: The COVID-19 pandemic continues to evolve rapidly in Africa, with over 30 000 confirmed cases and 1 414 deaths reported across 52 countries. Only Comoros and Lesotho in the WHO African Region are still apparently free of the disease. A few countries in the region are beginning to experience large widespread community transmission, with increasing mortality. While significant efforts are ongoing in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, countries are reminded to ensure continuity of essential health services, including routine immunization, malaria prevention and control and access to care for pre...

By Akin Ojumu Close to 3 million people across 185 nations have been infected with SARS-CoV-2 virus so far. And the number of deaths has soared past 200,000. Yet, the pandemic rages on like wildfire with little or no sign to give one cheer that the disease is abating, and the curve bending. Already, the global economic impact of COVID-19 is estimated to be as much as a 6-8% contraction in GDP. In the US alone, 26 million jobs have been lost in under 5 weeks – the largest job loss the country’s history. The US congress, in an unprecedented move, has had to put the country on life support and assisted ventilation, with an infusion into the economy of more than $5 trillion in relief funds to keep businesses and individuals in a state akin to suspended animation. The economies of developing nations, which long before the pandemic had been chronically weak at the knees, are now been dealt with mortal body blows that most certainly will result in a knockout and a complete blackout...

These Treatment Guidelines have been developed to inform clinicians how to care for patients with COVID-19. Because clinical information about the optimal management of COVID-19 is evolving quickly, these Guidelines will be updated frequently as published data and other authoritative information becomes available. The recommendations in these Guidelines are based on scientific evidence and expert opinion. Each recommendation includes two ratings: a letter  (A,   B , or  C ) that indicates the Strength of the Recommendation and a Roman numeral ( I ,  II , or  III ) that indicates the Quality of the Evidence that supports the recommendation. Strength of Recommendation A:   Strong recommendation for the statement B:   Moderate recommendation for the statement C:   Optional recommendation for the statement Quality of Evidence for Recommendation I:   One or more randomized trials with clinical outcomes and/o...

In a letter sent to the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the FDA Director, a group of 35 House of Representatives members, from both political parties, urged regulators to support a highly controversial method that would allow volunteers to be intentionally infected with the SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, in order to test experimental vaccines. Such human challenge trials could greatly accelerate the development of an effective vaccine. To which I say, brilliant idea! Sign me up the moment all the 35 politicians complete the full regimen of the SARS-CoV-2 virus shots. https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/04/united-states-should-allow-volunteers-be-infected-coronavirus-test-vaccines-lawmakers#

By Akin Ojumu Tyrants all have one thing in common, they are adept at buck passing. Demagogues are all cut from the same cloth of BS, when things go awry, they resort to blame shifting. It is never in the character of strongmen to accept responsibilities for their leadership, character, and moral failures. They always point fingers at the nearest easy target for their ineptitudes. When Rome burned, Nero played the fiddle and blamed the Christians. In Adolf Hitler's psychotic mind, the Jews were everything that was wrong with Deutschland and the cause of the impurity of the Aryan race. The Rwandan Hutus considered their fellow Tutsi countrymen cockroaches responsible for their economic woes. As a result, Nero slaughtered the Jews, Hitler unleashed a pogrom on the Jews, and the machete wielding Hutus butchered the Tutsis. These despots and agitators left in their wake an unprecedented carnage of ruin and destruction. Brought to its knees by an electron microscopic s...

By Akin Ojumu Egged on by the narcissist with his “LIBERATE” tweet, certain of the MAGA crowd, without face masks and ignoring the social distancing guidelines, have taken to the streets of states around the country which are epicenters of the Coronavirus pandemic. According to these folks, they are out in the streets to protest – read that as political campaign rally – the COVID-29 lockdown and to demand that their respective state governments open up the states so that normal activities can resume. It is indeed wishful thinking to expect this man, whose staggering failure in the management of the pandemic led to over 760,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and more than 40,600 deaths in the US, to be remorseful and mindful of the consequences of instigating a revolt in the States most affected by the disease. As an egomaniac, there’s nothing beyond his depraved mind and there’s no moral boundary he would not cross. Almost 6 weeks into the lockdown imposed in the country, Am...

To me, COVID-19 is not some scientific, medical, intellectual, or political itch that I must scratch. The death, devastation and ruin that Coronavirus has unleashed on the world is very personal. Till date, this deadly virus has already claimed a member of my family and another one is convalescing from it. And our family's prayer is that no other person catches the disease or succumbs to it. So, when you hear me talk about this pandemic, I'm coming from a painful place of personal loss and tragedy, and not some theoretical ego tripping.

By Akin Ojumu So, another hydroxychloroquine study bombs. Duh! Is anyone really surprised?  This is yet another scientific nail in the coffin of the chloroquine is the “game changer" against COVID-19” quackery. This is exactly why science matters. It is the reason there’s a gulf of difference between anecdotes and empirical data. And it goes to show that wishful thinking and false hope do not equate to scientific evidence or clinical efficacy. STUDY TITLE: Hydroxychloroquine in Patients with COVID-19: an Open Label, Randomized, Controlled Trial STUDY AUTHORS: Wei Tang, Zhujun Cao, Mingfeng Han et al STUDY OBJECTIVES: To assess the efficacy and safety of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) plus standard-of-care (SOC) compared with SOC alone in adult patients with COVID-19 STUDY DESIGN: Multicenter, Open label, randomized controlled trial STUDY LOCATION: 16 government-designated COVID-19 treatment centers in China STUDY PERIOD: ...

By Akin Ojumu Ever since the day Adam and Eve fell for Lucifer’s deception, the root of evil was planted deep in the soul of mankind. From the moment man engaged the slithering serpent in a conversation, wickedness became woven into the fabric of our universe. There remains for man no hiding place from evil. The shades of evil will always be found everywhere you go and in every corner you turn. The silhouette of evil casts a long shadow over the affairs of mankind. No matter what we do and however much we try, we are never going to rid the world we live in of evil. While from time to time, God in His mercy stays the hand of evil from coming near our dwelling and He’s able to stop the long claws of evil from piercing our habitation, God will not banish evil from our world. That is until such a time when the events in the calendar of God for the world has been fulfilled. Our world is a wicked place and that is the reality of our existence. Nevertheless, in the midst of per...