MatteasM

I think incidents like this point to the complete failure of the research system. To say that quick fixes will get more funds than slower more effective medical theory that will pinpoint exactly what needs to be done, is a disgusting comment on the state of things. To say that shots in the dark, are preferred to true science and a concerted intelligent effort, that this idiotic "pragmatism" encouraged by pharma companies and their collaborators, of lining up 392 drugs for trials without really understanding what is going on and what is gong to really help. I went through the paper evincing the link between mast cell degranulation and the coronavirus (https://ssrn.com/abstract=3566703) and noticed it was written by an unsponsored independent. I also noticed that it suggested a careful understanding of H4 antagonists, mast cell stabilizers, Tnf-alpha blockers etc to be used in conjunction. But what I see on the ground is the alchemy practiced by the pharma companies to turn their existing FDA "approved' drug portfolios into pots of gold. Sciguy72, your comment on ciclesonide just highlights what I am trying to say, while the paper calls for a reasoned approach to treat the Covid as an hyperallergenic response along with other factors indicated, all we have on the ground is a drug used for allergic rhinitis and asthma being tossed in to the list. While it echoes what the paper reasons, what if a complex combination of multiple drugs is needed? Good science and common sense dictates that understanding before action is far better than action before understanding. Almost six months into the outbreak and we are really no closer to a cure, decades after the SARS outbreak we are no closer to a vaccine, and when you say that they are looking at devising cytokine storm treatments, let me point out that this was the primary cause of death in the 1918 Spanish flu and also in the SARS epidemic. It has been 102 years and we have still not solution for the cytokine storm? More old people die of the cytokine storm in influenza related pneumonia each year than will die worldwide in the Covid massacre. When the solution appears, and it will sooner or later, you will find that our failings were not with the science but with the politics and money around it.

Are there any theories of what exactly is happening after the Covid-19 virus enters the system and the mechanism by which it kills? I have only come across one reasonable theory on SSRN that discusses mast cell degranulation. https://ssrn.com/abstract=3566703 Almost all other scientific presentations seem to be data sets of symptoms and morbidities and genetic analysis of the virus and its receptors. Our medical establishment has nothing more than shots in the dark, hoping for a lucky hit. It seems that despite the trillions poured into setting up research superstructure, we are not even sure anymore if we should be using anti-parasite and/or antibiotic treatments to deal with a virus! Or even whether a mask will help or not? Where is the medical theory? Where are the old school immunologists?