FAST TRACK NEEDED URGENTLY FOR REVOLUTIONARY COVID DRUG.

AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL GOVERNMENT SHOULD FAST TRACK REVOLUTIONARY COVID DRUG.

By: Stan Kipper.

There is nothing new about peopleturning up to work when they’re sick. During the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic,many Melbournians had no option but to carry on working in defiance of publichealth advice, during an era before paid sick leave and with virtually nosocial safety net.

Today many employees are entitledto sick leave. And yet Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews this week complainedthat “far too many people” are going to work with COVID-19 symptoms, describingthis as the “biggest driver” of the state’s persistently high rates oftransmission.

It’s easy to understand MrAndrews’ frustration. But while times have indeed changed for many employeessince 1918, those in the casual and part-time workforce face the same starkchoice – stay at home,or go to work and get paid, it’s as simple as that. Notall Australians have the luxury of being paid like our public service.

Casuals accountfor 25 per cent of the Australian workforce, mainly in lower-paid jobs. Thiscreates huge vulnerability, both in terms of these workers’ personalcircumstances and in the public’s efforts to suppress COVID-19.

But there is now hope and for many Australians help simply can’tcome quick enough. A repeat preliminary evaluation by Australiancompany PharmAust (ASXAA) of its lead cancer drug monepantel andmonepantel sulfone has found it can reduce transmission in cells infected withthe current SARS-CoV-2 strain of coronavirus.

Replication of an invitro virus infectivity experiment carried out earlier this monthhas used the same median tissue culture infectious dose (TCID50) method and confirmed initial findings.

The repeat experiments were conducted by virologists atMelbourne’s Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research and againdemonstrated that infectivity of SARS-CoV-2 virus particles can be suppressedby up to 95% in cell cultures treated with either monepantel or monepantelsulfone.