Pharmaceutical Talks

14/10/2021

11/12/2020

What is the difference between the Covid vaccines? Pfizer, Oxford and Moderna.

The Pfizer and Moderna messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine.
An mRNA vaccine is injected into the body where it enters cells and tells them to create antigens. These antigens are recognised by the immune system and prepare it to fight coronavirus. Medicines based on mRNA instruct a patient’s own cells to produce proteins that could prevent, treat or cure disease.

Oxford/AstraZeneca
AstraZeneca, instead, has gone down the traditional use of inactivating the virus: by providing the body’s defence mechanisms with advanced warning of the virus, the inoculation triggers production of the antibodies required to fight the real thing when it is contracted. The Oxford jab is not an mRNA vaccine, instead it uses a harmless weakened version of a virus that causes the common cold in chimpanzees.

11/12/2020

About mRNA-1273, Moderna’s Vaccine- COVID-19

Vaccines prepare the immune system to fight infections and prevent illnesses. Certain cells of the immune system produce antibodies (special proteins) that recognize viruses and other pathogens (things that cause disease) and make them harmless.

Typical vaccines for viruses are made from a weakened or inactive virus, but mRNA-1273 is not made from the SARS-CoV-2 virus. It is made from messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA), a genetic code that tells cells how to make protein, which help the body’s immune system make antibodies to fight the virus.

24/08/2020

Autoimmune Diseases

16/06/2020

UK Clinical Trial-Dexamethasone-Covid-19:

Dexamethasone, a steroid which has been around for 60 years, was trialled on around 2,104 patients and compared to 4,321 others who received standard care. The death rate of those on a ventilator who were given dexamethasone was reduced by around a third in comparison to the group given standard care.The risk of death was cut from 40 per cent to 28 per cent for patients on ventilators. For those in need of oxygen, the risk of death was reduced from 25 per cent to 20 per cent. However there was no benefit to patients who did not require respiratory support, the trial found.

13/06/2020

100 million doses to be produced by September:
AstraZeneca, the official partner for the coronavirus vaccine candidate fro Oxford, for the production and marketing of the vaccine has begun to produce AZD1222 jab, developed by the Oxford University, in UK, India, Switzerland, and Norway. The vaccine is under the human trials phase, but if successful, the company hopes to have millions of doses ready in the next few months. The company has reportedly signed a deal with the UK to produce 100 million doses, if the vaccine is successful in human trials and is expected to produce 2 billion doses worldwide, by mid-2021.

09/06/2020

Caring for Someone Sick at Home

Advice:

-Help the person who is sick follow their doctor’s instructions for care and medicine.
-For most people, symptoms last a few days, and people usually feel better after a week.
-See if over-the-counter medicines for fever help the person feel better.
-Make sure the person who is sick drinks a lot of fluids and rests.
-Help them with shopping, filling prescriptions, and getting other items they may need.
-The person who is sick should eat (or be fed) in their room, if possible.
-Handle any dishes, cups/glasses, or silverware used by the person who is sick with gloves. Wash them with soap and hot water or in a dishwasher.
-Do not share dishes, cups/glasses, towels, bedding, or electronics (like a cell phone) with the person who is sick.
-The person who is sick should wear a cloth face covering when they are around other people at home and out
-The cloth face covering helps prevent a person who is sick from spreading the virus to others.
-Wear gloves when you touch or have contact with the sick person’s blood, stool, or body fluids, such as saliva, mucus, vomit, and urine.
-The caregiver should ask the sick person to put on a cloth face covering before entering the room.
-The caregiver may also wear a cloth face covering when caring for a person who is sick.
-Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. Tell everyone in the home to do the same, especially after being near the person who is sick.
-If soap and water are not readily available, use a hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol. Cover all surfaces of your hands and rub them together until they feel dry.
-Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands.

09/06/2020

Test for Past Infection (Antibody Test):

Antibody tests check your blood by looking for antibodies, which can show if you had a past infection with the virus that causes COVID-19.

If you test positive

A positive test result shows you may have antibodies from an infection with the virus that causes COVID-19, or possibly from infection with a related virus from the same family of viruses (called coronavirus), such as one that causes the common cold.
It is not known yet if having antibodies to the virus that causes COVID-19 can protect someone from getting infected again or, if they do, how long this protection might last.

You should continue to protect yourself and others since it’s possible you could get infected with the virus again.
If you have no symptoms, you likely do not have an active infection and no additional follow-up is needed.
If you work in a job where you wear personal protective equipment (PPE), continue wearing PPE.

08/04/2020

08/04/2020

27/03/2020

Interim Guidance for Implementing Home Care of People Not
Requiring Hospitalization for Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19).

26/03/2020

Interim guidance
Clinical management of severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) when COVID-19 disease is suspected.