Authored by Dr. Anthony Fauci, on November 20, 2020Dr. Anthony Fauci, the leader of US Covid-19 task force delivered grand round to doctors at Johns Hopkins University today. Below are the key take home points from his phenomenal talk about COVID-19 pandemic and upcoming vaccines.
Epidemiology- About 50% of infections are spread by asymptomatic people infected with COVID-19.
- Disease spectrum:
* 80% mild to moderate ds (dont need hospitalization),
* Severe 14%,
* Critical 5%
- Case fatality rate 2.3%
- What is severe disease?: ARDS, neurological ds, hyperinflammation (cytokine storm), cardiac dysfunction, hypercoagulability, acute kidney injury, and muiltisystem inflammatory syndrome (children)
-High risk group for developing severe disease: cancer, chronic kidney ds, COPD, heart diseases, immunocompromised, obesity, pregnancy, sickle cell, smoking
Treatment for hospitalized patients approved by NIH/USFDA- Remdesivir
- Dexamethasone
- Bamlanivimab and Baricitinib (monoclonal antibody)
Vaccine - Vaccine (Moderna and Biontech Pfizer) will be available in US for general population in Jan or Feb 2021. Timeline for other countries was not discussed.
- People who had COVID-19 already should also get vaccine.
- Everyone will need to take booster doses of vaccine after the first dose. Duration between the doses aren't decided yet could range from months to years.
- Even with an effective vaccine, we have to follow mask and social distancing rules until the daily new cases are contained.
- Despite availability of the vaccine, a survey says that about 50% of people in US are either not sure or will not take the vaccine. So we need to make people around the world aware that these vaccines are developed with scientifically proven methods and transparency.
With or Without Vaccine Follow the following precautions which have proven to reduce the chance of getting COVID-19 infection:
1. Mask/face coverings
2. Physical distance of more than 6 feet
3. Avoid crowds and closed spaces outside home
4. Outdoors better than indoors
5. Frequent washing of hands