Covid Czar More Than Vaccination

Submitted by Sheryl Hamlin

Dr. Edo McGowan, responding to an editorial in the Montecito Journal, fine tunes the role of Covid Czar to include all stages of the process, not simply vaccine rollout. He states:

Is the COVID Czar going to be a “go-to” source for what to do until one gets vaccinated? There are several actions available, see : Dr Seheult, below. The Wall Street Journal, Sat/Sun Jan 30, 31, p. C3, carried a discussion on citizen scientists who are tired of waiting on government and forging ahead, hence taking up slack where the “system” has failed. Would the Czar act as a focus for assisting such groups? It appears that there is a definite need for some focal point locally.

One of the critical failures locally is in testing and the turnaround time for the test results. By the time one gets tested and then the results back, the virus may be through its replication phase and antivirals are then of little use. The scientific community has generally broken the disease into three or four phases. These phases are reflected in the writings of Dr Paul Marik and his colleagues discussing the MATH+ and I-MASK treatment protocols for Covid-19. Read the description of the protocol here.

Why is timing important?

The first phase is the viral replication and runs about 8 to 10 days as tracked by viral culture, although PCR tests will show positive out much further but this is mainly a reaction to fragments of “dead” viruses. In Santa Barbara, we use PCR. Because PCR tests will also show the reaction to floating viral debris from “dead” viruses, not functional virus, we get a misdirected indication of progress and time to treat. To be effective, the antivirals should be given not later than the 6th day of infection, during viral replication, not the extended response to tests reacting to “dead” viral fragments. But this requires fast test turnaround. With current tests and their slow turnaround, is this likely? A close friend on a prescription from his doctor did not get test results back for 11 days, then a day or so to get prescriptions. This seemed to me about the average, was it average?

The second phase in this disease is the beginning of the symptomatic, the host’s gearing up and reaction by the host immune system. This occurs generally about day 6 through day 11. This is followed by the early pulmonary symptoms and then the further immune dysregulation relating to viral and immune system cytokine storm (around day 14+). This is followed by the late pulmonary and dysregulation of the capillary cells and ensuing thrombosis with end-organ collapse.

There are actions the average person can take in the interim between now and getting the vaccine and once a positive test is reported. The Doctors explain The PREVENTION & TREATMENT For The Coronavirus | Roger Seheult & Lewis Howes.
Watch here.

Testing Turnaround and the Virus Timeline

The Santa Barbara Independent in Vol 34, No 745, (April 23, 2020) carried a story on Dr Wright, medical director of Cottage’s ICU who mentioned that he did not get his test results back for 2 weeks. I got mine back in 11 days. Thus, if my math is correct that’s a three-day improvement in 8 months. We know that by the 11th day, the virus has pretty much gone through its replication phase and thus the antiviral drugs that should be administered as early as possible within the disease. It has been shown that the lower the viral load, the better the result. Read about Dr. Wright here.

In spite of this, have we seen any effective push for a test with a turn-around that fits the virus? The typical test is PCR (polymerase chain reaction) which will throw false positives after the virus is finished replication and there is nothing but “dead” viral particles floating around with which it reacts. The disease is now into the second phase after day 11 and the body’s own resources are causing the damage. Notwithstanding this, is medicine still attacking the disease as if it were fighting live viruses? Absent accurate testing, how many in the community who either cannot take or will not take the vaccine will contract the disease and in the early phases walk around spreading it?

Questions for the Czar

Dr. McGowan’s question to the Czar will involve those who either can’t get vaccinated or won’t. This amounts to an unknown but potentially significant number of people who can carry the infection within the community. What are the treatment options? What treatment options will be advocated for those testing positive?

The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official position of Citizens Journal