. The Science and Nonsense around COVID
RAMA PRASAD T.
Dr. T. Rama Prasad,
Formerly: Medical Superintendent (Special) of RTS & IRT Perundurai Medical College and Research Centre,
Perundurai, Tamil Nadu, India.
Presently: Director of ‘PAY WHAT YOU CAN’ Clinic, Perundurai, Erode District, TN – 638052. drtramaprasad@gmail.com WhatsApp +91 98427 20393 BLOG https://drtramaprasad.blogspot.com
WEBSITE www.rama-scribbles.in Twitter @DrRamaprasadt Facebook T Rama Prasad
Telegram Dr T Rama Prasad
A MONTHLY JOURNAL OF MEDICINE AND SURGERYSN
Vol. 118 No. 11 November 2021 ISSN 0003 5998
Indexed in IndMED Email: admin@theantiseptic.in www.theantiseptic.in
This is one of my 28 articles on 'COVID'-related subjects published in 30 months in a medical journal (The Antiseptic) which made a WORLD RECORD in medical journalism -- one author; one subject; one monthly medical journal; 28 articles in 30 months. -- T. Rama Prasad
. The Science and Nonsense around Covid .
RAMA PRASAD T.
Dr. T. Rama Prasad,
Formerly: Medical Superintendent (Special) of RTS & IRT Perundurai Medical College and Research Centre,
Perundurai, Tamil Nadu. Presently: Director of ‘PAY WHAT YOU CAN’ Clinic, Perundurai, Erode District, TN – 638052.
Specially Contributed to “The Antiseptic” Vol. 118, No. 11
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Science is always wrong. It never solves a problem without creating ten more.”
-- George Bernard Shaw
ABSTRACT
This quote seems to be very relevant to our Covid problem. Even while trying to solve a problem another is cropping up leading to nonsensical solutions. Over the past 20 months, science has come out with various preventive measures and a galaxy of experimental medicines in the wake of which a plethora of problems sprung up -- medical, social, economic, ecological and geo-political. These unforeseen developments made science vulnerable to be painted with a shade of nonsense. The uncertainty of science in medicine has become so profound that ‘hesitancy’ is dominating in all the fields related to Covid – economical, educational and even preventive medicine. Some of the conflicting aspects of the Covid science are briefly brought to light in this article., with the knowledge available around mid-October 2021. In this seemingly unending catastrophe, let’s hope for that fortunate stroke of serendipity which may balance science and stupidity.
Key words: Covid science, Covid nonsense, Covid controversies, Covid nationalism, Covid research frauds
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Introduction
The unrelenting spread of COVID-19 has set off a lot of ‘emergency’ and ‘experimental’ initiatives in ‘Modern Medicine’ (Allopathy) which is the most accepted scientific system of medicine all over the world. It has been based on a robust foundation of science, logic, rationale and wisdom. The system is very open for review, criticism and correction. The scientific medicine has been ever-evolving and dynamic with no bias and vested interests. This is what is ideal about it. And most of the people have unflinching faith in the system. That said, alas, many scientific calculations and research findings pertaining to ‘Covid (SARS-CoV-2 / COVID-19) medicine’ went on unexpected lines over the past 20 months, making people stare at the ‘modern medicine’ with a sliver of suspicion, especially because of the growing shade of commercialism in the application of medical science over the past few decades, locally and globally.
The emergency situation perforce made scientists cut the corners leading to fallacious outcomes which are frowned upon by puritans of science as plain nonsense. In the mess of the medical confusion, countless medical practitioners, independent and attached to institutions, took ad hoc decisions which are proved to be in line with nonsense. The COVID-19 claptrap has been only growing. This has become a matter of huge public concern and debate because of the scale of the crisis and the ubiquity of the nonsensical outcomes. Abnormal behaviour of the virus and the selfish nature of the human being may be the contributing factors.
Inability to explain satisfactorily certain ‘Covid happenings’ caused a terrible embarrassment to science. Happenings in America exemplify this. The history of mankind shows that every age expresses sorrowful nostalgia for bygone healthy generations, yet this does not preclude rising longevity. During World War I, some 50 million people died worldwide due to the 1918 flu pandemic. More number of Americans died due to the present Covid (SARS-CoV-2 / COVID-19) pandemic (675,722 as on September 18, 2021) than due to the 1918 flu pandemic (675,000). Moreover, the number of Covid-related deaths in the US is proportionately more compared to that in many equal and also disadvantaged countries. Does it make any sense in the context of a century of medical advancements in the US which brags about its de la crème destatus of healthcare on the planet, and its 15-trillion economy ? This is just one example of the uncertainty of application of science. Covid has upended everything and everybody on the planet, a beggar to a billionaire. It even made science to look like a bundle of nonsense.
There have been hurriedly shifting strategies in the management of the pandemic. Contradictory reports about preventive measures and confusing statements about treatment protocols prevailed. And there were fraudulent ‘scientific and medical’ activities with vested interests which made science vulnerable to be questioned. During the 'Corona period', various drugs were permitted for 'emergency use / experimental use / compassionate use' by various authorities across the world without robust evidence of benefit. But ‘nationalism’ is kept on the top of the mind, subordinating science. The rigid regulatory checks and balances of ‘normal times’ have become flexible and arbitrary in many countries. Some pharmaceutical companies and some hospitals had taken advantage of this to promote certain drugs for profiteering. Fear among the public paves the way for profiteers. It's a see-saw like situation with evidence for and against coupled with shifting advisories which have become commonplace. Covid made too many of such things in its ‘short-long’ period. A few examples are sketched below. Many more are present in my 13 articles published over the previous 13 months on subjects related to Covid in The Antiseptic, a journal of Medicine and Surgery, and in Health, a journal devoted to healthful living.1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13
Hydroxychloroquine fiasco
Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) had been considered as ‘useful’ and ‘useless’ as well in the prevention and treatment of COVID-19. Some publications on this molecule contained fabricated data in relation to Covid. An APOLOGY was tendered by the authors, and the articles in The Lancet and The New England Journal of Medicine were RETRACTED on June 4 / 5, 2020. A worldwide debate went on and millions of pages were written in the medical and general press on this matter. No other drug kicked up such a ‘scientific Covid storm’ with a great interplay of science, politics, publicity and personalities – starting with the POTUS. Flawed and fabricated publications and their retractions later, in reputed medical journals, the World Health Organization (WHO)’s U-turns, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)’s recommendations and de-recommendations made the science a mockery and presented the “key lesson that it is a mistake to assume the scientific process as one divorced from the influence of power, privilege, finance and politics. The means and methods to a scientific result matter more than results – only achieved through global scrutiny. Openness, more than blame game, is what the post-COVID world needs now.” More details may be accessed at the reference numbered 16.16 The shocking revelations may only be the tip of the iceberg.
Famotidine farce
A huge amount of $21 million was granted for an emergency contract to researchers in the US for a scientific study to try Famotidine (Pepcid) in sick Covid patients. Scientists laughed at the idea as there were no published scientific studies to justify it and as the proposed daily injections of high doses of Famotidine for the already sick patients pushed safety “to the limits.” Considered as a casual disregard for science and anti-corruption rules, the deal was said to have been pushed through without the scientific oversight necessary for such a federal award. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gave the clinical trial a speedy approval. Dr. Steven Nissan, an adviser to the FDA, said that this approach is like throwing spaghetti at a wall to see how much sticks ! Can this be called ‘scientific Covid nonsense’ ?
Ivermectin imbroglio
The hype had shifted from HCQ to Ivermectin. Ivermectin had grabbed headlines for wrong reasons. Based on the study data of Surgisphere, the company behind some discredited research studies (including those of HCQ), officials of Latin American countries recommended ivermectin as a possible coronavirus drug.16 The drug had been very extensively used in Latin American countries and India too.
One Prof. Thomas Borody from Centre for Digestive Diseases in Australia 'believes' that ivermectin with zinc and doxycycline is a cure for COVID-19. Prof. Ian Musgrave, a molecular pharmacologist from the University of Adelaide said: "Prof. Borody's 'belief' is to be taken with a grain of salt as ivermectin acts only in test tubes." Prof. Borody wondered why Australia didn't consider his recommendation to include ivermectin in COVID-19 treatment protocol while the '"HUGE INDIA" approved it ! (Uttar Pradesh government approved it in August 2020.)
On April 10, 2020, the FDA issued a guidance not to use ivermectin for COVID-19, and The Pan American Health Organization, a regional office of the WHO, had issued a statement warning against the use of ivermectin to treat COVID-19. The statement noted that the anti-parasitic drug was being investigated in clinical trials, and that “ivermectin was incorrectly being used for the treatment of COVID-19, without any scientific evidence of its efficacy and safety for the treatment of this disease.”
Despite lack of robust evidence, many doctors had been prescribing Ivermectin as a routine in India. They may be endorsing the famous quote of the POTUS: “Lack of evidence is not evidence of absence of evidence.” !!! Does this make any scientific sense ? The ICMR had of late, rather belatedly, dropped Ivermectin from its Covid treatment protocol in August 2021. More details may be accessed at the reference numbered 16.16
Remdesivir conundrum
Earlier, the Giliad’s and US’ National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) drug trials had shown that Remdesivir significantly reduced the time to recovery of those who were hospitalised with COVID-19. Later, a huge global trial of the WHO (SOLIDARITY trial) showed that Remdesivir did not have any beneficial effect on the length of hospital stay or the mortality rate of the COVID-19 patients.21
Remdesivir had been selling like hotcakes (even in the black market – Rs.60,000 and more per dose) in India during the ‘second Covid wave’. According to IQVIA numbers, Remdesivir recorded a sale of Rs. 593 crore from June to December 2020 in India. Where were so many ‘scientifically eligible’ patients for this quantity of the drug ? Patients couldn’t have bought the drug and injected themselves. Then what science sense made the hospitals use this much of this drug and many other similar drugs ? That’s where the compassionate or business sense lies.
In their anxiety to save life, hospitals might have set aside the protocols and injected drugs injudiciously. Relatives of some serious patients might have ‘pressurised’ the hospitals to administer the ‘costly’ drugs out of desperation. And, in their anxiety to save their kith and kin, some poor people sold their cattle and houses to pay for the exorbitant medical bills, only to mourn at the crowded burial grounds. In this process, some might have exploited the desperate.14
A consequence of this is that the Supreme Court of India, on October 8, 2021, decided to intervene on a plea “to probe whether private hospitals fleeced desperate COVID-19 patients and their families, dragging them into financial ruin at the time of their dire need for medical care during the pandemic.” The Apex Court, while issuing a notice to the ministry of health and family welfare in this connection, observed that the issue “concerns a wide strata of society consisting of patients and their relatives who have been overcharged during the Covid-19 pandemic, and the issue which has been raised would merit serious attention.” Much earlier, last year, the General Insurance Council (GIC) moved the Supreme Court against alleged profiteering by private hospitals in India. One Covid patient was charged Rs.16 lakh in India and one Covid patient in the US was billed $1.1 million for Covid treatment – it’s a global phenomenon, not just local.14
The noble profession seems to be moving away from the nobleness, shedding some of its sheen.17,24 Rita Davenport once said: “Money is not everything, but it ranks up there with oxygen.” But now, it seems that oxygen is ‘secondary’ ! All the same, money may genuinely be the ‘primary need’ to run hospitals, as humongous amounts of capital is invested and huge amounts are required to make them economically viable.
Plasma therapy
A mosaic of evidence from varying epistemic levels worldwide indicates that Convalescent Plasma Therapy(CPT) is safe and has a survival benefit when transfused early in the course of the disease.22 But, individual Randomised Control Trials (RCTs) provided divergent evidence. In fact, some experts think that the use of CPT may have even played a role in facilitating new worrisome mutations to the virus. The ICMR’s PLACID trial and a recent (May 14, 2021) study published in The Lancet found no benefit in reducing mortality or improving patient outcomes. The ICMR had dropped the CPT from the recommended treatment guidelines for COVID-19 in May 2021. The latest revelation about the “plasma therapy” is that the CONCOR-1 trial results published on September 9, 2021 in Nature Medicine journal by Canadian researchers showed that ‘plasma therapy’ is ineffective and associated with worse clinical outcomes and serious side effects. Nearly 36,000 people were treated in Maharashtra with ‘convalescent plasma’ which was sold at the rate of Rs. 60,000 per dose.
In spite of lack of evidence, hospitals had been putting the onus on the relatives of the Covid patients to source the plasma which often led to fraught attempts by the desperate kith and kin. Science of healing seems to be bereft of sense.
Tocilizumab etcetera
The recombinant humanised monoclonal antibody drug known as Tocilizumab gained conflicting results from heterogeneous and underpowered scientific studies.23 However, the largest trial, RECOVERY, showed that the all-cause mortality among the ‘Tocilizumab group’ was 31% and that among the ‘usual care group’ was 35%. Humongous amounts of money were spent on this drug for that indefinite slim gain. Does the science of economics find sense in making the poor much poorer ? The WHO trial, which also studied the effect of hydroxychloroquine, a combination of HIV drugs lopinavir and ritonavir, as well as a combination of lopinavir and interferon, showed that none of the drugs showed any beneficial effect on the length of hospital stay or the mortality rate of those infected. All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and Health Ministry, on September 2, 2020, advised not to use favipiravir, pirfenidone, methylene blue, itolizumab, tocilizumab, etc too enthusiastically as sufficient evidence is lacking to support their use.
The ‘fashion’ now is to crave for a ‘cocktail’ of monoclonal antibody combination of ‘Casirivimab’ and ‘Imdevimab’ (Regeneron / REGEN-COV) which comes with a warning that it may be associated with worse clinical outcomes when administered to hospitalised patients with COVID-19 requiring high-flow oxygen or mechanical ventilation.
In the first few months of 2020, ventilators were extensively used, unnecessarily with fatal outcomes. Later on, it was realised that the deaths were mostly due to micro-thromboembolism, disseminated intravascular coagulation, vasculitis in lungs, etc. Further later, it was found that steroids were lifesaving. The easily available cheap steroids flooded into the bodies of Covid patients waking up another monster called ‘Mucormycosis’ which horribly killed hundreds of Covid patients in India.8 As sense replaces nonsense, we have to still learn on the go !
Disinfectant tunnels
Studies are still going on to find the impact of disinfectants on this new virus. For safety reasons, they should be used strictly according to instructions. Even governments used them wrongly by forcing people to go through “disinfectant tunnels” during the ‘corona crisis’. The Supreme Court also found fault with the authorities in this matter. In some places, disinfectants were sprayed on the fleeing poor migrant workers during the ‘national lockdown’ which is unscientific, barbarous and very hazardous to health.14 Most disinfectants, by nature, are potentially harmful and even toxic to humans and animals.6 The science needs to be applied with mind and some sense.
Covid vaccines
‘Covid vaccination science’ is still evolving.19,4 The play in the nascent field is being observed with expectation and anxiety. Apart from the “pandemic of the unvaccinated” in the US, the current concern is about the “booster doses”and “Covid vaccination of younger children.” Nothing is universally accepted about the ‘sense or nonsense’ of these two aspects. Another aberration and danger is that those countries which are splurging on excessive vaccination (‘booster’ doses and vaccinations in younger children, without scientific validation) may be haunted by a recoil by new vaccine-defying variants or even the remote possibility of ‘Antibody Dependent Enhancement (ADE)’ because of which Philippines suspended the use of Dengue vaccine (DENGVAXIA) on December 5, 2017.20
A greater worry with regard to children is about the yet unknown long-term health impacts of Covid infection and Covid vaccination in this age group. The latest surprising (and an apparently nonsensical) news as on September 6, 2021 was administering Covid vaccine to children as young as two years. In a world’s first, Cuba started vaccinating children in the 2-11 age group in the central province of Cienfuegos with its home-grown vaccines (not recognised by the WHO), Abdala and Soberana. Cuba aims to inoculate all its children before reopening the schools that have been closed for the most part since March 2020. What a scientific (or stupid ?) decision ! India may become the second, with the announcement on October 12, 2021 that the expert panel of India’s apex drug regulator has recommended Bharat Biotech’s COVAXIN for children of the age of two years and above. In this connection, it is mystifying to note that the COVAXIN for adults couldn’t get even the ‘emergency’ approval so far from the WHO though 111 million doses were already given in India over the past 10 months. And, paradoxically, the WHO approved two vaccines of the same ‘inactivated virus platform’ made in China (Sinovac and Sinopharm). Commentators said that the ‘clinical trial’ studies for COVAXIN need more ‘scientific sense’ of recording requisite data for approvals. Subversion and ‘fast-forwarding’ of scientific process in vaccine-making is evident globally, and India is no exception.
It is estimated that with the sale of Covid booster doses alone (let alone the paediatric doses), just one manufacturer would be benefitted to the extent of $26 billion (let alone the other competitors). After all, the business of selling is for making profit mainly. Waning of the vaccine-generated immunity would puff up the coffers of companies. “Ill-health is wealth” ! All the same, the ‘Big Pharma’ needs to be in good ‘economic health’, as most of the advancements in medicine have been due to their investment of billions of dollar in ‘Research and Development (R&D)’.
Second and Third waves
The laid-back India was abruptly assaulted by the ‘second wave’. The scientific prediction before the strike didn’t warn about any impending surge. Even during the ‘second wave’, the role of the ‘Delta variant’ was just brushed aside by the scientific authorities, while at the end it was realised that this variant played a major role.1 The same science predicted the ‘peak’ of a ‘third wave’ to occur around October 2021.12 But, now in mid-October there are no signs of it. The jaw of the science dropped. But a last-minute change in the itinerary of the virus may plunge India into a disastrous tragedy. Then, the usual choreography plays out. Medical science seems not to be precise though it may have its own explanations for failures.18
Incongruities
There are innumerable examples of unexplainable happenings. As of October 2021, China, with a population of 1.4 billion, had only 96 thousand Covid cases and less than five thousand deaths. The US, with a population of just 0.3 billion, and the reputation of being the world’s best in the medical field, had as many as 45 million cases and over seven lakh deaths. Compare the scientific profiles of these two countries. Covid had effectively deflated the ego of the US. These Covid figures would remain a mystery forever, just as the origin of the novel coronavirus.
Science and nonsense of Covid precautions
Opinions among even scientists are divided and even amusing sometimes, let alone those of the world leaders and politicians.14,15 It is abundantly evident in the following sentence of a recent court order by a Justice: “scientists believe cow is the only animal that inhales and exhales oxygen” (www.toi.in October 10, 2021). There had been protests against ‘lockdowns’, ‘face masks’, ‘Covid vaccination’, etc. backed by some scientists and world leaders around the globe. Due to the ‘pressure’, the US relaxed precautions, for example the disastrous – and now reversed – guidance supplied by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on May 13, 2021 to the effect that people need not wear masks if they had been vaccinated. And now, the US is facing the “pandemic of the unvaccinated” with approximately 30% of the adult population has yet to be vaccinated. That’s the American sense. Now, around mid-October 2021 (when India must be climbing to the peak of the ‘India’s third wave’, according to the mathematical modelling predictions) Indians are mostly going around without much of a precaution and are looking forward for the festivals ahead. This is the Indian sense, borne out of the unexpectedly low figures of ‘cases’ overall, and also out of the unexpectedly speedy vaccination coverage.
Data science
Covid-19 pandemic has exposed the cracks in our data systems. It’s a dreadful reminder that data deficiency led to catastrophic consequences. The ‘second wave’ surge and the woes of the migrant workers are examples for the failure of the data science. There was a disastrous shortage of healthcare, oxygen, beds and ambulances partly due to paucity of data and inaccurate capturing of figures. Planning and forecasting went wrong due to dearth of data analytics. Data science is paramount in taking crucial healthcare decisions for the present and for the future. Systemic failure of triaging led to needless hospitalisations and the consequent shortage of beds, oxygen and drugs for the really needy patients.
Undercounting of Covid deaths has been happening everywhere in the world with varying degrees. In the US, the official toll is 500,000 while the real number is estimated to be more than 700,000. The Center for Global Development estimated the real figure of Covid deaths in India to be around 10 times the official figure of 414,482 in between January and June of 2021. People’s confidence in healthcare systems and the governance gets eroded when deaths are grossly underreported while the skyline is lit up continuously with tragic flames from burial grounds. Dead bodies were floating in the sacred waters of the Ganges river. The confidence ran low when a lot of their kith and kin died due to oxygen shortage while it was ironically stated that no deaths were reported due to lack of oxygen – again due to the failure of data science. That’s the science sense despite guidelines of checklists and advance monitoring issued by the National Institute of Medical Statistics. Poor data automatically translates into poorer service.
Pseudoscience
No other disease had generated so much of fake news, rumours and misinformation than COVID-19. Honestly speaking, we don't have much of proven facts about this disease. This could be the reason for the great confusion about the ‘sense and nonsense’ about this disease’. While the scientific world is struggling to find facts about this new virus, innumerable preventive and curative suggestions have been making rounds sans any scientific proof. Millions of dollars are being spent on ‘pseudoscience’ and its products of unproved efficacy.
The myriad uncertainties in the ‘Covid science’ had brought to the fore the pseudoscience, both in allopathy (‘modern medicine’) and other systems of medicine. It’s natural that people embrace any nonsense when ‘modern medicine’ says it has no specific medicine against COVID-19. It comes even from political heads in the form of touting for Hydroxychloroquine or ‘paapads’ (‘appalams’).14,16. Countless wellness gurus, holistic healers, herbalists, naturopaths, chiropractors, potions, ‘kashayams’, pills and practices had promptly stepped in. Of course, donkey milk, cow urine, bleach, cocaine, zinc, vitamin D, vitamin C and a host of other immune-boosters to prevent or cure COVID-19 had enjoyed a great patronage. Many of these which were considered nonsense to prevent a disease in the pre-Covid times are now being religiously consumed. The poppycock is transformed into science by using the language of real science, language of stem cell research, language of quantum physics and the language of double-blind randomized control trials – a phenomenon called ‘scienceploitation’.
People have come to trust this pseudoscience as real science, especially when all this guff is tacitly recognized by integrative health centres in many countries including Canada, Singapore and the UK, and at universities and reputed institutions such as the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio which offers ‘Reiki’ – a method of treatment by using hands without even touching the patient to balance the “vital life force energy that flows through all living things.” Whatever it is, when the ‘non-allopathy pseudoscience’, citing what is written in this article, questions the ‘modern medicine’ about the goodness of the medical happenings during the ‘Covid period’, the ‘science’ may hang its head down.
‘Modern medicine’ may have to keep its own house in order. To not do so would amount to criminal negligence. They need to take cudgels in the battle against the bunk. There has always been an issue between practitioners of ‘modern medicine’ and those of ‘traditional Indian systems of medicine’. Anything from any system which doesn’t make a tall claim and which gives benefit without harmful side effects is good. ‘Pseudoscience’ has been present in all the systems and it flourished too well during the ‘confused Corona times’. Clear subversion of scientific process had been evident in modern medicine too. As emerged recently, some stakeholders were quick to join an opprobrium against a tall claim of a “cure” for Covid by a pill while their own houses were disorderly.
Regret and rectification
Much as we dislike grumbling about the state of the science, the recent events related to Covid leave us with no choice but to package our message in a bundle of barbed wire. How we wish we could puff up our chest with ‘modern medical pride’ and declare in a resonant voice that ‘modern medicine’ is a genuine evidence-based system. Alas, however hard we try, it is becoming impossible to deny the harsh reality of ignorance, fraud and exploitation. There are legitimate concerns about how scientific research is funded, interpreted and disseminated. Scientific integrity is crucial to promote both trust in science and trustworthy science.
The integrity manifests only by refraining from hype and by being transparent about conflicts of interest. “Ethics in medical practice is knowing the difference between what you have a right to do and what is right to do.” Good science and kind practice are the twin towers for medical progress. Tentativeness is the hallmark of science and one must adopt what the philosopher of science Lee McIntyre calls a scientific attitude – an openness to seeking new evidence and a willingness to change one’s mind. All the same, we have to keep in mind the following quote:
“Philosophy of science is about as useful to scientists as ornithology is to birds.”
-- Richard P. Feynman
REFERENCES
1. Rama Prasad, T. Disastrous Second Covid Wave in India. The Antiseptic. 2021 June; Vol.118; No.6; P: 20-27; Indexed in IndMED – www.antiseptic.in
2. Rama Prasad, T. Is the “Lockdown Medicine” too toxic ? The Antiseptic. 2020 October; Vol. 117; No. 10; P: 13-15; Indexed in IndMED – www.theantiseptic.in
3. Rama Prasad, T. Covid Variants. The Antiseptic. 2021 May; Vol.118; No.5; P: 11-14; Indexed in IndMED -- www.theantiseptic.in
4. Rama Prasad, T., Versha Rajeev. The Conundrum of COVID-19 Vaccines. The Antiseptic. 2021 January; Vol.118; No.1; P: 10-17; Indexed in IndMED – www.theantiseptic.in
5. Rama Prasad, T. Covishield or Covaxin ? The Antiseptic. 2021 April; Vol. 118; No. 4; P: 12-16; Indexed in IndMED – www.theantiseptic.in
6. Rama Prasad, T., Versha Rajeev. Antiseptics, Disinfectants and COVID-19. The Antiseptic. 2020 November; Vol.117; No.11; P: 26-28; Indexed in IndMED – www.antiseptic.in
7. Rama Prasad, T. 40+15 Hypoxia Test in COVID-19. The Antiseptic. 2020 December; Vol. 117; No. 12; P: 13-17; Indexed in IndMED – www.antiseptic.in
8. Rama Prasad, T. Mucormycosis and COVID-19 in India. The Antiseptic. 2021 July; Vol.118; No.7; P: 21-26; Indexed in IndMED -- www.antiseptic.in
9. Rama Prasad, T. Vagaries of India’s Covid Vaccination Policy. The Antiseptic. 2021 August; Vol.118; No.8; P: 10-16; Indexed in IndMED – www.antiseptic.in
10. Rama Prasad, T., Versha Rajeev. Tea and Covid. Health. 2020 October; Vol.98; No.10; P: 4-6.
11. Versha Rajeev., Rama Prasad, T. Fear and Covid. Health. 2020 November; Vol.98; No.11; P:31-32
12. Rama Prasad, T. India’s Third Covid Wave. The Antiseptic. 2021 September; Vol.118; No.9; P: 14-20; Indexed in IndMED – www.antiseptic.in
13. Rama Prasad, T. Covid, Children and Schools. The Antiseptic. 2021 October; Vol.118; No.10; P: 08-18; Indexed in IndMED -- www.antiseptic.in
14. https://drtramaprasad.blogspot.com/2020/
15. Rama Prasad, T., Versha Rajeev. https://drtramaprasad.blogspot.com/2017/04/covid-crocodiles.html
16. https://drtramaprasad.blogspot.com/2017/04/hydroxychloroquine-hcq-and-coronavirus_29.html
17. https://drtramaprasad.blogspot.com/2017/04/corona-and-charles-darwin.html
18. https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/open-page/a-bad-patch/article31069356.ece
19. https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/should-children-be-given-covid-19-jabs/article36459761.ece
20. https://www.science.org/content/blog-post/antibody-dependent-enhancement-and-coronavirus-vaccines
22. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmed.2021.684151/full
23. https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(21)00712-1/fulltext
24. https://drtramaprasad.blogspot.com/2017/04/modern-medicine-good-bad-and-ugly_30.html
****************************************
Covid is not just a LOCAL problem, it’s a GLOBAL one.
Great and very useful article sir!
ReplyDelete