pandemic
The key role of antivirals in COVID-19 treatment (remdesivir)
A few weeks after the SARS-CoV-2 was identified by Chinese researchers as the cause of ‘COVID-19’, an antiviral called remdesivir, originally used during the 2014 Ebola outbreak, came into play as the first available option to treat patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Even if the approval process for remdesivir caused some controversy, experts consider the combined use of antivirals and other drugs a promising solution for treatment of Covid-19.
A scientist’s opinion : Interview with Prof Martijn van Hemert about covid-19 treatment
Interview with Martijn van Hemert, Associate professor and Principal Investigator in molecular virology and antiviral strategies at the Leiden University Medical Center. In recent years, his group has mainly been studying the Chikungunya and Zika viruses, but in the past he has also studied SARS-CoV. Since February 2020, he has shifted his focus to research ...
A scientist’s opinion : Interview with Dr Juan Pablo Horcajada about covid-19 treatment
Interview with Juan Pablo Horcajada, MD. is Head of the Department of Infectious Diseases and General Coordinator of the COVID-19 Service at the Hospital del Mar, Barcelona. Remdesivir is the first drug approved by the EMA to be used as part of the treatment of COVID-19 patients. How’s the use of this antiviral in your ...
Peter Piot interview: The pandemic has catapulted science to the forefront of policy-making
Interview with Peter Piot, Director of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and Special Advisor to the President of the European Commission on the response to the coronavirus and COVID-19: how science has been feeding into policy-making? What does your role as EU special advisor on COVID-19 entail? Peter Piot: I am part ...
Cary Funk: “It is important to engage with people who have a low level of trust in scientists”
Cary Funk from Pew Research Center talks about the impact of people’s ideology and education on their trust in scientists, medical treatments and vaccines, and how science communication can overcome this.
A scientist’s opinion : Interview with Lisa Ferland about School & Covid-19
Interview with Lisa Ferland, epidemiologist and part of the COVID-19 surveillance and response team as an Interim Surveillance Expert at the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). She comes from the US but lives in Sweden. In addition to her academic background in public health, statistics and information science, Lisa has written a ...
The role of school settings in COVID-19 transmission
So far, sending children back to school does not seem to have increased COVID-19 community transmission rates, even though EU countries have adopted different strategies. Keeping schools open is very important for children’s health and well-being.
Dexamethasone : the first life-saving drug for COVID-19 patients
Clinical trials make it possible to evaluate whether a treatment improves outcomes. Developing a hypothesis, for example if treatment A is better than standard treatment B, clinical trials enable understanding of the role of an intervention in improving patient care. In the current search for a successful treatment against COVID-19, ongoing multiple clinical trials have started to make a difference, such as the Recovery clinical trial on dexamethasone, which has given a definitive verdict on the use of corticosteroids during COVID-19.
