Knowledge From Medical Experts – What We Know About COVID-19?

Dear members,

In this time of uncertainty, Puerfons wishes you are all physically well. Like us, you are probably stunned by the latest development on the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic which is threatening what we cherish the most, our health and the health of our loved ones. Our ways of life are disrupted, our global economy is in jeopardy and our certainties are suddenly challenged.

Presently more than three billion people worldwide are confined in their home in order to avoid further spreading of the coronavirus. Social and physical distance widens, but in the meantime solidarity is spreading across communities. Actually, the world has never been in so much need to fight a common enemy together.

At Puerfons, we feel that we have the obligation to compile and share the knowledge we collect from our colleagues and medical expert advisers, since it is more important than ever to base our views and decisions on facts.

As of today, March 30th, globally there are more than 700,000 confirmed cases and 34,000 people have died. If you compare for instance to March 18 (only 12 days ago), when there were 200,000 cases and 8,000 deaths, you can see how quick the situation deteriorates. Unfortunately, the next few weeks are going to be even worse.

Experts from Stanford on the front-lines predict that the peak of COVID-19 cases may not be until July 2020, with a total number of deaths in the USA possibly exceeding 500,000! According to most of the experts we are no longer able to wipe this virus off the face of the planet by containment.

So currently, the strategy is two-fold — flatten and delay. This is especially important to curve the rate of infection and ease the pressure on the healthcare system of all affected countries. Delay can be used to develop a vaccine; about 40 companies and academic institutions are already working on it. Nonetheless, we have to be realistic and clinical trials to create a vaccine are complex enough that it is another 18 months away assuming it does work. In other words it means that we will have to live with Corona for a long while.

This is a new reality for all of us, but it is also important to confront it and not to panic. Even in the case that many of us may catch the disease, for the vast majority of people, it is a mild and self-limiting illness. In the first 44,000 cases in China and similarly for the cases in Italy 80% of cases have mild symptoms, 19% are severe enough to miss work or go to hospital, and only a small number need treatment in intensive care.

Early symptoms may be hard to distinguish from a typical cold. Sore throat, cough and/or runny nose. Some people describe abdominal pain and some have loose bowels. These early symptoms may or may not be associated with a fever. In some cases, typically after an interval of 1-2 weeks individuals develop an increase in cough and shortness of breath. This may be associated with aching muscles or body aches and fever. These are important symptoms which require medical assessment and often need specialist assessment and possible treatment. We are still developing our understanding of this new disease. Different medicine, such as Chloroquine, Tamiflu, Kaletra or Aluvia are being tested, but presently no treatment has proven to be fully effective and reliable. So as we already insisted upon last month, the best medicine against coronavirus is still bolstering up your immune system, with prime importance to eat healthy, sleep well and whenever possible exercise.

Another important component to stay healthy is human interaction which is vital not only to mental but also physical well-being. We are lucky enough that this crisis happens in an era when we can maintain meaningful links to our loved ones, friends and colleagues through modern technology even if we cannot be in the same room with them. It is indeed important to maintain daily habits and a life ethics as close to normal as possible, although the situation is not.

With this pandemic some people will go through physical pain, others through moral and economic suffering, but humanity has started to fight back with intelligence and sensitivity. Our life may be compromised by the uncertainty of the disease, but at the same time it is strengthened by the generosity, caring for the vulnerable and supporting one another that people have shown worldwide since the beginning of this crisis. And these are good reasons to be optimistic about our reaction and future as a species. Dealing with confinement is not easy for all of us.

If anyone of you or your loved ones feel the need to be in contact with a specialist for on-line psychological help or support please write to our support team at contact@healtheliteclub.com. We will then connect you with an expert in the field. This is a service we offer to all our members during this difficult time when some of you may be in social isolation.

A final word also to announce that we continue to develop our partnerships with companies which we believe are in line with our main motto: a longer life, a better life. This month we have reached an agreement with Cardax, which is a US biopharmaceutical company focusing primarily on the development of pharmaceuticals for chronic diseases driven by inflammation.

For your information, Cardax has just released a white paper on the potential role of astaxanthin (a chemical compound found naturally in certain crustaceans and fishes) in the treatment of the coronavirus disease. The paper focuses on the scientific rationale for boosting the immune system and reducing the extreme inflammatory response that may lead to severe respiratory complications in subjects with COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2). You may look for more details of the benefits of Astaxanthin at our product page.

With these words, we wish you the best. Take care of yourself and your loved ones.