In this episode, Joel M. Gelfand, MD, MSCE, and Leonard H. Calabrese, DO, are joined by Paul E. Sax, MD, as they discuss advances in the outpatient management of COVID-19 and emerging information about the omicron variant.

• Welcome from Joel Gelfand, MD, MSCE :10
• About Calabrese, Gelfand and Sax :25
• A quick update since the last webinar :51
• Sax’s thoughts on the effectiveness of monoclonal antibodies 1:46
• What are the situations where we should be thinking about postexposure prophylaxis with these agents? 7:06
• When you start using pre-exposure prophylaxis therapy, how would you counsel the patients receiving it? 12:56
• How does Merck’s molnupiravir work? 17:22
• Sax’s thoughts on Pfizer’s paxlovid 22:23
• What’s your perspective on fluvoxamine? Does it work? 25:26
• Paul, what have you learned so far about the omicron variant? 30:15
• How much more contagious is this than Delta and what would you compare it to? 31:09
• Questions from the audience 35:27
• Tweet your questions @DrJoelGelfand, @LCalabreseDO and @PaulSaxMD. 38:35

Leonard H. Calabrese, DO, is chief medical editor of Healio Rheumatology, professor of medicine at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University, and RJ Fasenmyer Chair of Clinical Immunology at the Cleveland Clinic.

Joel M. Gelfand, MD, MSCE, is chief medical editor of Healio Psoriatic Disease and professor of dermatology and epidemiology at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. He is also vice chair of clinical research, medical director at the Dermatology Clinical Studies Unit, and director of the Psoriasis and Phototherapy Treatment Center at Penn Medicine.

Paul E. Sax, MD, is clinical director of the Infectious Disease Clinic and professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School.

We’d love to hear from you! Send your comments/questions to Drs. Gelfand, Calabrese and Sax at covid19podcast@healio.com. Be sure to check Healio.com/coronavirus for daily updates on the pandemic and follow us on Twitter @InfectDisNews, @GoHealio, @DrJoelGelfand, @LCalabreseDO and @PaulSaxMD.

Disclosures: Calabrese reports consulting for AstraZeneca, GSK and Regeneron. Gelfand and Sax report no relevant financial disclosures. 

This is the first in a series of town halls featuring Joel M. Gelfand, MD, MSCE, and Leonard H. Calabrese, DO, who will discuss the latest knowledge and research on COVID-19. In this episode, they’re joined by Carlos del Rio, MD, who discusses the use of booster shots in the general population and in patients with underlying autoimmunity.

• Welcome from Joel Gelfand, MD, MSCE :10
• About Calabrese, del Rio and Gelfand :30
• del Rio on the future of the pandemic 1:12
• Recommendations for boosters in general population 3:25
• What does “immunocompromised” mean in terms of boosters? 6:14
• What is an additional dose vs. booster dose? Who’s eligible? 9:24
• Summary 14:12
• Immunosuppressed patients – degree of severity 16:14
• Safety of boosters in general population 17:00
• Safety of boosters in those with underlying autoimmunity 18:12
• Questions from the audience 22:03
• Tweet your questions @DrJoelGelfand, @LCalabreseDO and @CarlosdelRio7 29:24

We’d love to hear from you! Send your comments/questions to Drs. Gelfand, Calabrese and del Rio at covid19podcast@healio.com. Be sure to check Healio.com/coronavirus for daily updates on the pandemic and follow us on Twitter @InfectDisNews, @GoHealio, @DrJoelGelfand, @LCalabreseDO and @CarlosdelRio7.

Researchers and regulatory agencies are racing against the clock to develop a safe and effective vaccine against COVID-19. This episode outlines the path of vaccine development, the top contenders currently in phase 3 trials, as well as questions that remain unanswered.

• Intro :08
• The path of vaccine development 2:55
• Regulatory agencies working on a vaccine 4:09
• The lifecycle of vaccines 7:43
• Potential targets of the vaccines 10:58
• Top contenders in phase 3 trials 14:13
• Viral vector vaccines 21:03
• Protein-based vaccines 23:31
• Approval process 25:46
• Vaccine safety monitoring 28:23
• Unanswered questions 31:09
• Let’s stay tuned for more information 33:12
• A fairytale analogy to explain vaccine development difficulties 35:10

We’d love to hear from you! Send your comments/questions to Dr. Pai at covid19podcast@healio.com. Be sure to check Healio.com/coronavirus for daily updates on the pandemic and follow us on Twitter @InfectDisNews and @GoHealio.

Disclosures: Pai reports serving on the advisory boards of Abbvie and Gilead Sciences.

Research and data on potential treatment modalities continue to emerge at a rapid pace. This episode explores the IDSA and NIH guidelines for the treatment and management of COVID-19, as well as available evidence on antivirals, glucocorticoids and antibodies.

• Intro :08
• Recap on spectrum of disease 1:53
• Treatment goals: 3 broad approaches 4:07
• Disease pathogenesis 5:45
• Remdesivir 7:58
• Dexamethasone 17:18
• Convalescent plasma 34:26
• Words from JFK 40:20

We’d love to hear from you! Send your comments/questions to Dr. Pai at covid19podcast@healio.com. Be sure to check Healio.com/coronavirus for daily updates on the pandemic and follow us on Twitter @InfectDisNews and @GoHealio.

Disclosures: Pai reports serving on the advisory boards of Abbvie and Gilead Sciences.

As the country prepares to reopen, rapid and effective testing remains “the need of the hour.” In this episode, Dr. Pai discusses diagnostic testing for COVID-19, including which populations to prioritize for testing, available modalities and new options.

Overview of symptoms 1:05

A look at testing modalities 3:34

Saliva samples for COVID-19 11:19

Antibody testing 13:03

Antigen testing 21:48

Nothing can replace clinical judgment 24:20

We’d love to hear from you! Send your comments/questions to covid19podcast@healio.com. Be sure to check Healio.com/coronavirus for daily updates on the pandemic and follow us on Twitter @InfectDisNews and @GoHealio.

Disclosures: Pai reports serving on the advisory boards of Abbvie and Gilead Sciences.

In this episode, Dr. Pai answers questions specific to HIV in the context of COVID-19, including parallels between the two pandemics, repercussions of COVID-19 on patients with HIV and guidance for handling potential changes to antiretroviral regimens.

Questions:

From Peter Chin-Hong, MD, at the University of California, San Francisco:

"What are the parallels between the HIV and COVID-19 epidemic?"

"What lessons can we learn from the early response to HIV that can inform how we approach COVID-19?"

"Are HIV patients with COVID-19 doing worse? What information do we have?"

"What repercussions of COVID-19 will HIV patients have (mental illness, etc.)?"

From Jennifer Ross, PharmD, at the University of Iowa College of Pharmacy:

"Many antiretroviral agents (e.g., l lopinavir/ritonavir, boosted darunavir), are being evaluated in clinical trials or are prescribed for off-label use for the treatment or prevention of COVID-19. What additional considerations should be made when proposing a change in a patient’s antiretroviral regimen in the midst of COVID-19?"

We’d love to hear from you! Send your comments/questions to covid19podcast@healio.com. Be sure to check Healio.com/coronavirus for daily updates on the pandemic and follow us on Twitter @InfectDisNews and @GoHealio.

Disclosures: Pai reports serving on the advisory boards of Abbvie and Gilead Sciences.

This episode features questions regarding the use of masks, the use of steroids, universal PPE, antibody testing, convalescent plasma, COVID-19 in pets and whether hydroxychloroquine has any effect on the cytokine storm.

Questions:

From Gail D. Deyle, DSc, of the Brooke Army Medical Center, in San Antonio, Texas:

“The information available to the general public has ranged from masks do very little to help reduce the spread of the virus, to statements that if 80% of the population wore a mask, most transmission would be stopped. Consistent with current evidence, and distinct from fears of the general public competing with healthcare providers to purchase masks, what benefit do homemade and other masks provide? Is your family wearing masks?” 

From Mike Putman, MD, of Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University:

“I'd love to hear the panel talk about steroids.”

From Adam Cheifetz, MD, of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center:

“How contagious are carriers prior to being symptomatic and for how long after diagnosis are you still contagious?

“When will we see a serology test to determine if someone, ourselves included, have already had COVID-19?”

From Masoud Sakhaei, MD, of Baptist Health in Jacksonville, FL:

“Most likely, COVID-19 will be with us. Until we have a vaccine or cure, we do have to find a balance between livable society and avoidance of infection and fatality.  We need a better universal PPE to be cheap and abundant for everybody to be able to go back to work and be protected.”

“We need universal screening to collect antibodies from recovered individuals in case somebody got sick. I’d like the panel’s opinion on this.”

From Scott Harris, MD, a retired cardiologist previously in private practice in Texas:

“Does the activity of hydroxychloroquine in reducing cytokine levels in vitro have a possible beneficial effect in blunting the cytokine storm?”

From Marcia Miller-Hjelle, PhD, of the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Peoria:

“Why have veterinarians not been brought into the mix of providing information and studies, such as are cats and dogs carriers of COVID-19? Hopefully, someone is testing this.”

From Stephen Hanauer, MD, of Northwestern University:

“We are planning a meeting in December, but faculty are concerned about recycling of the virus. Are there any predictions on what will happen when we return to socializing and winter returns?”

We’d love to hear from you! Send your comments/questions to mailto:covid19podcast@healio.com. Be sure to check Healio.com/coronavirus for daily updates on the pandemic and follow us on Twitter @InfectDisNews and @GoHealio.

Disclosures: Pai reports serving on the advisory boards of Abbvie and Gilead Sciences.