ABSTRACT
Background: Data is sparse regarding the utility of social media in engaging southern, rural communities in health awareness education and research. Community Advisory Board (CAB) members of the Mississippi (MS) Core of the Risk Underling Rural Areas Longitudinal (RURAL) Study suggested the use of a Facebook social media platform to promote the RURAL Study while providing live health education presentations that they could review and refer to others. Objective(s): Identify social media strategies using existing Facebook metrics to engage the populations of two rural counties in research on Heart, Lung, Blood and Sleep disorders. Method(s): The Principal Investigator of RURAL Study's MS Core collaborated with the University's Social Media Coordinator to implement a Facebook page for the Study. The team implemented six health awareness education programs focused on monthly health observances that best fit with HLBS disorders and COVID-19 concerns noted by the CABs. Facebook metrics including Reach (Organic and Paid Ads), Views, Likes, Comments and Shares were collected continuously. Finding(s): There were six Health Awareness events between February and June 2021 (Table 1). Paid Ads resulted in a greater reach among those in targeted rural communities. The number of views positively correlated with the number reached. The highest number of views were for short talks on Men's Health (June events) compared to hour-long panel discussions (Feb, May and Aug events). The numbers of Likes, Comments and Shares were similar among the different approaches. Clicks were greater among Paid Ads compared to Organic Ads. Between February and August the number of followers increased from 39 to 300 with the largest increase in July after the Men Health talks. Conclusion(s): Using social media may be an effective tool for reaching communities with health awareness and health education. Our findings support that Paid Ads (Boosts) focusing on targeted audiences are more effective than Organic Ads. Short talks are more effective than hour long programs.
ABSTRACT
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak started in Wuhan, China when people started with the symptoms of respiratory disorder. The onset of this disease have symptoms like fever, dry cough, fatigue, and difficulty in breathing. The nature of SARS-CoV-2 seems highly contagious as it also can be spread with asymptomatically infected individuals. It has been more than a year which this outbreak have been announced as a pandemic by World Health Organization (WHO) due to major public health crisis and uncontrollable around the globe. Some countries have taken initiatives in inventing vaccines and step up in the clinical trial process since a vaccine is an all-powerful tool which it always been a saviour in fighting infectious disease. In searching for the vaccine, researchers had studied the previously published article of SARS-CoV or MERS as in the beginning, in light, there will be a suitable vaccine to fight this pandemic situation. Recent research on the vaccine has been tested to seek the right vaccine for COVID-19. This study is to focus on the current vaccine development against COVID-19 and to explore the potential vaccines' characteristics that have been studied by the previous proven research findings. This review was done based on the research articles and reviews published until the end of April 2021 through established scientific search engines and related scientific platforms based on the inclusion criteria with its related keywords like coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 Vaccine, clinical trials, and COVID-19 vaccine development. This review summarized a few vaccine candidates that have entered clinical trials and some supported evidence from Phase I until Phase III clinical trial studies that have been published and reported. In this review, 12 vaccine candidates have the potential to against SARS-CoV-2. Thus, their vaccine platform, characteristic as well as its efficacy studies have been discussed.Copyright © RJPT All right reserved.
ABSTRACT
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak started in Wuhan, China when people started with the symptoms of respiratory disorder. The onset of this disease have symptoms like fever, dry cough, fatigue, and difficulty in breathing. The nature of SARS-CoV-2 seems highly contagious as it also can be spread with asymptomatically infected individuals. It has been more than a year which this outbreak have been announced as a pandemic by World Health Organization (WHO) due to major public health crisis and uncontrollable around the globe. Some countries have taken initiatives in inventing vaccines and step up in the clinical trial process since a vaccine is an all-powerful tool which it always been a saviour in fighting infectious disease. In searching for the vaccine, researchers had studied the previously published article of SARS-CoV or MERS as in the beginning, in light, there will be a suitable vaccine to fight this pandemic situation. Recent research on the vaccine has been tested to seek the right vaccine for COVID-19. This study is to focus on the current vaccine development against COVID-19 and to explore the potential vaccines' characteristics that have been studied by the previous proven research findings. This review was done based on the research articles and reviews published until the end of April 2021 through established scientific search engines and related scientific platforms based on the inclusion criteria with its related keywords like coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 Vaccine, clinical trials, and COVID-19 vaccine development. This review summarized a few vaccine candidates that have entered clinical trials and some supported evidence from Phase I until Phase III clinical trial studies that have been published and reported. In this review, 12 vaccine candidates have the potential to against SARS-CoV-2. Thus, their vaccine platform, characteristic as well as its efficacy studies have been discussed. Copyright © RJPT All right reserved.
ABSTRACT
Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), a life-threatening viral disease affected first in china and quickly spread throughout the world in early 2020. So many scientists are rushing to discover novel drugs and vaccines against the coronavirus, and treatments for COVID-19.In the present article, in-silico studies have been performed to explore the binding modes of Isoxazole substituted 9-aminoacridines(1a-x) against SARS CoV-2 main protease (PDB id-5R82) targeting corona virus using Schrodinger suit 2019-4. The docking studies are performed by Glide module, in-silico ADMET screening was performed by qik prop module and the binding energy of ligands was calculated using PRIME MM-GB/SA module. From the results, Isoxazole substituted 9-aminoacridines like 1n,f,c,k,h,a,e,g,b,d are significantly active against SARS CoV-2 main protease with Glide score more than-5.5 when compared with currently recommended drug for COVID19 Hydroxy chloroquine (G score-5.47) and Co crystallized ligand CID_24701445 (G score-4.4). The docking results of the compounds exhibited similar mode of interactions with COVID19 and the residues THR24, THR25, THR26, SER46, MET49, HIE41, GLN189, ARG189, ASP187, MET168, HIE164, ASN142 and GLY143 play a crucial role in binding with ligands. © 2021 DSR Publishers/The University of Jordan. All Rights Reserved.
ABSTRACT
Suggested cell entry mechanisms of SARS-CoV-2 are binding of S1 protein present on spikes of SARS-CoV-2 with the cell surface of hACE2 and S-protein priming by the serine protease, Transmembrane Serine Protease 2 (TMPRSS2) and cysteine protease, Cathepsin B and L (Cat B/L). Melittin is the primary constituent of Apis mellifera, the European honeybee poison which acts as an anti-cancer, anti-microbial, anti-viral, anti-diabetic and anti-inflammatory agent. Reports suggested that Melittin can directly lyse the viral membrane, may act as Serine Protease inhibitor and is able to inhibit aggregation of membrane proteins and thus can reduce the pneumonia-like symptoms during SARS-CoV-2 infection. Herein, we discuss the potential use of Melittin to subside pneumonia-like symptoms and act as an anti-viral agent in the early stages of COVID-19 treatment. © 2021, Indian Pharmaceutical Association. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
The role of intellectual property in the pharmaceutical industry has been controversial for decades. On one hand, evidence suggests that patents and monopolies on drug sales for limited periods are necessary to fund costly R&D required to produce life-saving therapies. On the other, there is concern that patent rights have gone too far in favour of innovation, limiting access to lower-income populations who cannot afford exorbitant drug prices. This tension plays out at a grander scale in the international context, as drug prices can vary drastically between countries, as has happened in the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2017, the United States Supreme Court held in Lexmark that a patentee's rights are exhausted after international sale. This decision has immense implications for the U.S. pharmaceutical industry and the affordability of medicines worldwide. Legislators such as Senator Bernie Sanders have proposed bills in light of the decision to lower American drug prices by permitting importation from countries like Canada. Though FDA and other regulatory barriers may still be present, American innovator companies can no longer sue reimports on the grounds of patent infringement. However, while the results may be favourable to U.S. consumers, international impacts remain to be seen. Some suggest that prices in countries like India could increase to reduce opportunities for arbitrage. In this article, we suggest methods for branded pharmaceutical companies to address issues arising from Lexmark while simultaneously providing affordable access-from voluntary licensing to avoid the risk of compulsory licenses and creative forms of contracting. Finally, we conclude regarding India's newfound consumer protection laws to note that American pharmaceutical players may not simply be able to lower product standards to prevent parallel importation back to the US. © 2021 Chair on Consumer law and practice, National Law School of India University.
ABSTRACT
The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has reached its pandemic scale within a short period of its first case reported in Wuhan, China in December 2019, leading to a great economic crisis all over the world. As of today, there is no clinically approved antiviral drug available for the treatment of COVID-19. Tocilizumab, a humanized monoclonal antibody against the interleukin-6 (IL-6) receptor, clinically approved for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, is one such drug used to manage the COVID-19 symptoms. The current study reviews the effectiveness of Tocilizumab as a treatment option for COVID-19. Research findings on Tocilizumab are effective in COVID-19 patients with the risk of cytokine storm and further complications. Nevertheless, this review also recommends further investigation on the effectiveness of this drug with a large group of patients for more accuracy in results with COVID 19 patients. © 2021 UPM Press. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
No abstract provided.