Unmasking COVID-19 Healio

In this episode, Joel M. Gelfand, MD, MSCE, is joined by Leonard H. Calabrese, DO, and Amesh Adalja, MD, FIDSA, as they discuss quarantine and isolation guidelines, emerging therapies to treat COVID-19, and the anticipated future of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Welcome from Joel Gelfand, MD, MSCE :10 About Calabrese and Adalja :11 At day five, what's your recommendation for clinicians how to counsel people about testing to get out of isolation? Do you recommend people go ahead and get tested to end isolation or to just end isolation if not having much symptoms or improving? :51 How should we counsel our immunocompromised patients? Should they really isolate for 20 days? 5:21 Can people continue to test positive and antigen test beyond the infectious period? 10:13 In the clinical setting, you know, should physicians be wearing N95 masks, and if so, what's that databased on? 15:22 If a person has a positive antigen test but a negative PCR on the same day, how do you interpret that information for a patient? 22:12 Now we finally have emergence of effective therapies for people with COVID-19. How do you think about these different therapies? Do you have an algorithm that you'd recommend to clinicians in the field about which one to reach for first? 24:05 When someone has a COVID infection how soon thereafter can you give them a COVID immunization? 27:47 With Omicron working its way through the US and obviously through the world, where do you see the next three to six months going? 28:34 Thank you everyone 31:29 Amesh Adalja, MD, FIDSA,is senior scholar at Johns Hopkins and a practicing infectious disease and critical care physician in Pittsburgh.
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.
We’d love to hear from you! Send your comments/questions to Dr. Gelfand, Calabrese and Adalja 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 @AmeshAA.
Disclosures: Adalja reports no relevant financial disclosures. Calabrese reports consulting for AstraZeneca, GSK and Regeneron. Gelfand reports serving as a consultant for Abcentra, Abbvie, BMS, Boehringer Ingelheim, GSK, Lilly (DMC), Janssen Biologics, Novartis Corp, UCB (DSMB), Neuroderm (DSMB), Trevi, and Mindera Dx., receiving honoraria; and receives research grants (to the Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania) from Boehringer Ingelheim, and Pfizer Inc.; and received payment for continuing medical education work related to psoriasis that was supported indirectly pharmaceutical sponsors. Gelfand is a co-patent holder of resiquimod for treatment of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma. Gelfand is a deputy editor for the Journal of Investigative Dermatology receiving honoraria from the Society for Investigative Dermatology, is chief medical editor for Healio Psoriatic Disease (receiving honoraria) and is a member of the Board of Directors for the International Psoriasis Council, receiving no honoraria.

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.