Re:Characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 and Covid-19
by rsynnott on Tuesday October 13, 2020 @03:26PM
(#24769260)
> The original treatment protocol included zinc
Eh? No, it didn't. People started talking about zinc when it became clear that Raoult's results weren't reproducible.
Re:Characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 and Covid-19
by gridlockd on Tuesday October 13, 2020 @04:11PM
(#24769784)
You're right about Raoult not mentioning zinc, but Zelenko used zinc from the beginning.
Also, significant reduction in mortality using HCQ alone early during the treatment has been reproduced:
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.09.09.20184143v...
The earlier trials weren't testing prophylactic treatment.
Re:Characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 and Covid-19
by Izkata on Tuesday October 13, 2020 @07:56PM
(#24771732)
Switzerland accidentally performed such an experiment on their population as well - also showing HCQ saves lives: http://www.francesoir.fr/sites/francesoir/files/20200713_fs_...
Image from http://www.francesoir.fr/societe-sante/covid-19-hydroxychlor...
The original treatment protocol included zinc, so it's nonsense to say that adding in zinc is "moving the goalpost". Not testing in combination with zinc is moving the goalpost. The interaction between zinc and HCQ is key. Azithromycin is just to prevent potential secondary bacterial infection, which isn't necessarily a big factor in COVID mortality.
"This is special pleading, and it is not backed up by any hard data."
Here's a study that showed adding zinc to HCQ reduced mortality by 50%:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32930657/
Unfortunately, that study didn't test zinc without HCQ, but the hypothesis is that HCQ acts as an ionophore and is therefore beneficial.