{"id":713,"date":"2020-03-21T18:25:00","date_gmt":"2020-03-21T18:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/covidqanda.org\/?p=713"},"modified":"2020-11-09T18:27:25","modified_gmt":"2020-11-09T18:27:25","slug":"arent-open-cash-transactions-spreading-the-disease-and-whats-the-story-with-new-treatments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/covidqanda.org\/?p=713","title":{"rendered":"Aren\u2019t open cash transactions spreading the disease? AND What\u2019s the story with new treatments?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Question:<\/strong> Aren\u2019t open cash transactions spreading the disease? I read COVID-19 can live for some amount of hours on cardboard, so I would think that paper money with all the bodily oils would harbor live virus cells for at least some period of time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Answer: <\/strong>Oh yeah, paper money does seem problematic, especially in light of the results from a recent study that showed that the virus can live on cardboard for 24 hours (see Q&A from 3\/12 for more information on that front). CBS actually had an informative story about this very issue<\/a> last week, where a number of epidemiologists expressed concern about handling cash and the spread of COVID-19. I also looked up the science specifically about paper money and here are a few interesting nuggets. First, scientists have been concerned about money for at least 135 years! (Schaarschmidt J. Upon the occurrence of bacteria and minute algae on the surface of paper money. Nature. 1884<\/strong>;30:360.) Second, a number of studies do show<\/a> that paper money can indeed harbor a variety of microorganisms, some of which can cause pneumonia and some of which are antibiotic resistant. A 2017 study<\/a> that took DNA swabs of circulating $1 bills in New York found a variety of genetic materials on the bills, including living bacteria. That study\u2019s authors concluded, \u201cAs a whole, these results confirm and deepen several previous studies suggesting that money harbors a diverse and viable microbial population.\u201d To sum up \u2014 try to avoid paper money and if you can\u2019t just keep washing your hands and avoid touching your face.You can\u2019t get COVID-19 simply by touching the money. Rather, the money is the vector by which the virus can spread from a person\u2019s hand to their mouth or nose (e.g. an orifice through which the virus can enter the body).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Question: <\/strong>What\u2019s the story with new treatments for COVID-19 folks are discussing? I\u2019ve been hearing about remdesivir, a Cuban interferon drug called Alfa 2B, the use of antibodies from recovered patients<\/a>, and now an antimalarial drug, chloroquine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Answer:<\/strong> There are no treatments available for COVID-19 yet. And as much as some folks in the Administration tout the availability of new and amazing drugs, it\u2019s hype that\u2019s not yet backed by science. And the danger of using drugs that aren\u2019t tested is that you can actually make things worse for folks. Remember thalidomide<\/a>? Despite that bleak news, scientists are actively working to gather evidence about the effects of various potential treatment regimens through clinical trials. And with that evidence, doctors will be able to ultimately provide tested and effective treatment for their patients suffering from the virus. For a list of potential treatment options, see here<\/a>. And for a description of studies FDA and NIH are working on, see this FDA press release<\/a> from 3\/19. Currently, to my knowledge and based on yesterday\u2019s call with FDA, doctors caring for COVID-19 patients can consider off-label use of chloroquine and can reach out to FDA about participation in the remdesivir trial.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Question: Aren\u2019t open cash transactions spreading the disease? I read COVID-19 can live for some amount of hours on cardboard, so I would think that paper money with all the bodily oils would harbor live virus cells for at least some period of time. Answer: Oh yeah, paper money does seem problematic, especially in light of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":714,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[18,67],"tags":[19],"class_list":["post-713","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-transmission-routes","category-treatment","tag-fomites","fallback-thumbnail"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/covidqanda.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/pexels-photo-164527.jpeg?fit=1880%2C1253&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/covidqanda.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/713","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/covidqanda.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/covidqanda.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/covidqanda.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/covidqanda.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=713"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/covidqanda.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/713\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":715,"href":"https:\/\/covidqanda.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/713\/revisions\/715"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/covidqanda.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/714"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/covidqanda.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=713"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/covidqanda.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=713"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/covidqanda.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=713"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}