Here are the latest medications against COVID-19 CLINICAL MATTERS Try this, it might work! Early in the pandemic, doctors desperate to improve the chances of their patients surviving COVID-19 were willing to use whatever treatment showed some promise. The number of drugs tried as potential...
‘Stealth’ Omicron, a decline in cases, and preventing the next variant CLINICAL MATTERS Whenever new scientific information is released on COVID-19, misinformation isn’t far behind. There are many factors that contribute to this. Scientists being unable to properly communicate their findings...
When will we start dropping masks? CLINICAL MATTERS One contentious point of discussion throughout the whole pandemic has been the issue of masks. At the start of the pandemic, the prevailing scientific understanding of what was then called nCoV (short for novel coronavirus, now formally named...
A review of our response and how to safely exit CLINICAL MATTERS As cases continue to drop in NCR and across the country, many people are talking about the pandemic “end-game.” The exponential increase in cases in early January 2022 quickly peaked and has precipitously dropped. This occurred in...
It’s a paradigm shift CLINICAL MATTERS As new daily cases of COVID-19 in the US breach the one million-mark, government leaders and healthcare officials in many countries are being forced to confront the inevitable question: Since the Omicron variant is out of control, what is an acceptable...
Is it really the COVID killer they say it is? CLINICAL MATTERS As more and more local cases of Omicron are reported, it is very likely that it is driving the exponential increase in cases. Community transmission is confirmed when it is no longer possible to trace individual cases to distinct...
Isolation, quarantine, and what it means in the age of Omicron and Delta CLINICAL MATTERS Many people, including doctors, were puzzled by the recent changes made by the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to the duration of quarantine and isolation. The CDC shortened both quarantine and isolation...
Updates on boosters and treatments, and how these may help against Omicron CLINICAL MATTERS As more Omicron cases are reported in returning travelers, the possibility of breakthrough community transmission becomes greater and greater. It will likely be just a matter of time before this occurs. When...
Two international travelers, both asymptomatic, are the first cases of this variant CLINICAL MATTERS On Dec. 15, 2021, the Department of Health reported the first two cases of the Omicron variant among incoming travelers. The first case was a returning 48-year-old overseas Filipino male from...
Are physical gatherings safe now? CLINICAL MATTERS As the number of daily COVID-19 cases continues to drop, many people are looking forward to their Christmas parties. Having missed these last year, there is a pent-up need to see friends and loved ones physically, especially now that many have been...
The most mutated variant CLINICAL MATTERS On Nov. 26, 2021, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced the designation of a new COVID-19 Variant of Concern (VOC) named Omicron. This followed the observation that a SARS-COV-2 lineage B.1.1.529 was driving an increase in cases in the Gauteng...
A firsthand experience CLINICAL MATTERS Got the booster! My primary vaccine series was Sinovac, and I was given a Pfizer booster. I was the second person to get vaccinated with Sinovac in the Philippines, right after PGH director Gerardo Legaspi. Since I got my first dose last March 1, 2021 and my...
