Contagion Live News Network: FDA Revokes EUAs

Hello everyone, I’m Kevin Kunzmann, managing editor for Contagion. Here’s your COVID-19 update for the start of this week of June 15 2020.

Today alone we have reported on a triplet of new developments in the coronavirus pandemic response which harbor mixed tidings for the state of research and understanding.

First and foremost, a new study from Geneva, Switzerland showed that antibodies were not present or at least identified in more than 92% of patients provided a serological test.

The 12-week serosuvery-based trial showed that just about 1 in 10 people had developed detectable antibodies against the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus infection near the tail-end of the virus’ first wave.

The team believes this level of immunological naivety to the virus may be applicable to a global population.

Next, a study published in The Journal of Infectious Diseases showed that the virus was mechanically inactivated by sunlight. Their assessment of the virus in the space of a controlled environment showed that both simulated sunlight and matrix significantly influenced its decay rate.

Combined with robust epidemiological study of COVID-19, these findings could serve as a bettered understanding as to how the virus can spread through the air, as well as help to inform public health measures in place.

And lastly, the US Food and Drug Administration gave what could be construed as a final ruling on the debate surrounding chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine.

The administration ruled Monday morning to revoke the Emergency Use Authorizations granted to both anti-malarial drugs back in late March, citing an unproven antiviral effect on assessed patients hospitalized with COVID-19, as well as a growing portfolio of concerning safety effects.

The revocation comes in the weeks following controversy surrounding a pair of published assessments on hydroxychloroquine, in which authors and publishers were criticized for presenting findings without a complete offering of clinical data. Regardless, the concerns expressed behind the limited benefits and obvious risks of the drugs have waged on prior to and up through this most recent news.