Opinion

The antiviral drug remdesivir (Veklury) improves the time to recovery of hospitalized COVID-19 patients, this according to a multi-center effectiveness study published in JAMA Network Open.The retrospective study, conducted by Johns Hopkins University researchers, involved 2,299 COVID-19 patients receiving care in a 5-hospital health system in the Baltimore and Washington, DC, area from March to August 2020. About 15% percent received remdesivir (342) as part of their treatment, of which 285 were matched with controls.Figure 1: Mechanism of action of Remdesivir from https://microbenotes.com/remdesivir/Clinical improvement was defined as release from the hospital without worsening of World Health Administration (WHO) severity score during hospitalization or within 28 days ...

Palm Sunday or Passion Sunday marks the start of Holy Week when we reverently remember the last days of the Lord. Palm Sunday recounts the triumphant entry of Jesus to Jerusalem, as he rides on a colt (traditional royal procession) and is welcomed by the crowd with palms, branches and shouts of hosannas. Holy Week closes with an even more glorious event - the Lord’s resurrection on Easter Sunday. In the days between, Jesus goes through his passion and death on the cross.The enthusiastic reception of Jesus by the people on Palm Sunday manifests their high expectation of him as the long-awaited messiah who would free them from Roman subjection and restore the kingdom of Israel. Instead, Jesus enters Jerusalem with a higher purpose of accomplishing the Father’s will to save humankin...

Optimism is spreading in the US as COVID-19 deaths continue to decrease and states are starting to ease restrictions and open vaccinations to younger adults.But in Europe, the scenario is different with another wave of infections forcing school closures and new lockdowns. Why is this happening? It can certainly be attributed to the faster vaccine rollout in the US (slower vaccination in Europe) and the greater spread of more contagious variants in Europe.What’s happening in Europe should serve as a warning against dropping safeguards too early, as many of the same variants are already spreading in the rest of the world at lower levels.The virus will just keep on spreading until it infects everyone but we can stop it just like New Zealand, Australia, Thailand, Vietnam, ...

Last week, many thought that the OCTA Research Group was exaggerating when it claimed that based on the trend of COVID-19 cases, by end of March, we will be seeing 10,000 to 11,000 new cases daily as per their modelling.However, in the last three days alone, our figures were above the 7,000 mark, and yesterday we breached 8,000. If this trend continues, the government is aware that health services will reach a critical level again and could be far worse than what was experienced last year.Here at home, we have been seeing a rise albeit very low compared to what we are seeing in Metro Manila and neighboring cities that have been placed on community lockdown.However, I am suspecting that what we have on record here is not the real picture because we have not been testing as ...

I have invited Fr. Henry Donasco, our Diocesan Liturgist, to take my column for this Sunday, which he graciously accepted. Here is his homily.THE BEST IS YET TO COMEThe old practice of veiling the crucifix and sacred images on Saturday before the 5th Sunday of Lent until the beginning of the Easter Vigil remains an option in some churches today. It can be traced from the tradition of "hunger cloth." Originally, Lent was a time when public sinners who were admitted to the Order of Penitents were banished from the Church and deprived of joining the congregation in all liturgical services.The practice of covering the front of the altar with violet cloth was therefore meant to restrain the penitents from seeing the altar. Eventually, this practice became a Lenten observance of "fa...

According to a JAMA Network Open study, the greatest COVID-19 risk factors for healthcare personnel (HCP) aren't patient contact or clinical duties but rather community exposure. The study looked into survey and serologic data from ~25,000 HCPs in the US: Atlanta, Georgia (Emory Healthcare), Baltimore, Maryland (Johns Hopkins Medicine and University of Maryland Medical System), and Chicago, Illinois (Rush University System). Researchers found that exposure to a positive community contact increased the likelihood of infection 3.5 times and high cumulative exposure increased the likelihood 1.8 times. Researchers collected volunteer samples and survey data from 24,749 HCP across four large healthcare systems and three states (Georgia, Maryland, and northeast Illinoi...

COVID-19 cases are again on the rise and though we are seeing low digit numbers here, the recent IATF resolution, adopted by the province may compromise what has been wonderfully contained because of the protocols set by the provincial government.Though our LGUs will clearly save so much from lifting the mandatory swabbing and quarantine of our arrivals, it may get more costly if we see a resurgence of cases in our midst. Especially that it has been reported that the first case of the highly contagious Brazilian variant was detected in an OFW who is from Iloilo.The new executive order makes travel within Western Visayas free of any requirement and although the provincial government will continue to provide testing at ports of entry, it will solely be on a voluntary basis.A...

“God so loved the world that he sent his only Son, so that those who believe in him might not perish, but might have eternal life.” (Jn 3:16)A favorite of everyone, this certainly is one of the most quoted verses from the Bible. It is often referred to as “the gospel in miniature,” for it captures the very essence of the gospel and of the bible, for that matter. In one line, it summarizes “the greatest story ever told” - the story of an unrequited love, spurned and betrayed, yet continues to pursue so that the beloved may be saved and live, even at the cost of the lover’s life.Francis Thompson was a bright boy who once wanted to be a priest but eventually led a miserable life when as a medical student he became addicted to opium. He ended up living in a slum and survived by sh...

Lab and animal studies have suggested that the antiparasitic drug ivermectin has activity against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 but a clinical trial published recently in JAMA showed that early administration of ivermectin did not significantly shorten time to clinical improvement in 400 adults mildly ill with COVID-19.Ivermectin, a widely used drug with a favorable safety profile, is thought to act at different protein-binding sites to reduce viral replication therefore Several countries have included ivermectin in their treatment guidelines.However, a single-center, double-blind, randomized trial led by researchers from the Centro de Estudios en Infectologia Pediatrica in Cali, Colombia found ivermectin did not seem to "significantly improve" the time needed for...

There’s this saying, “What goes around, comes around.” And in the case of provincial Human Resource Management Officer, Atty. Anabelle Palic, it seems she’s now hanging by the end of the rope.I met Anabelle some years back when she was also involved in another controversy in the previous administration. I wrote a bit about it and she asked to sit down with me so she can give her side of the story.I gave her my time and she got to explain things and dispute allegations. However, I asked her for documents so I will have some basis plus I do not want to get libeled if I write her side. She never did and that was the end of the story.I remembered that days before the turnover of the provincial administration from the late Gov. Freddie Marañon to Gov. Bong Lacson, the former re...