VaultingChemist said:Somehow, I missed the really important part. An experimental drug used to fight the Ebola virus, remdesivir, was crucial in helping the patient recover.VaultingChemist said:
Research article on Washington State patient, 35-year-old male that visited family in Wuhan.
First Case of 2019 Novel Coronavirus in the United StatesThe concerning part is that the patient required a significant amount of hospitalization with supplemental oxygen to recover.Quote:
On hospital day 8 (illness day 12), the patient's clinical condition improved. Supplemental oxygen was discontinued, and his oxygen saturation values improved to 94 to 96% while he was breathing ambient air. The previous bilateral lower-lobe rales were no longer present. His appetite improved, and he was asymptomatic aside from intermittent dry cough and rhinorrhea. As of January 30, 2020, the patient remains hospitalized. He is afebrile, and all symptoms have resolved with the exception of his cough, which is decreasing in severity.From Gilead, the maker of remdesivir:Quote:
Given the radiographic findings, the decision to administer oxygen supplementation, the patient's ongoing fevers, the persistent positive 2019-nCoV RNA at multiple sites, and published reports of the development of severe pneumonia3,4 at a period consistent with the development of radiographic pneumonia in this patient, clinicians pursued compassionate use of an investigational antiviral therapy. Treatment with intravenous remdesivir (a novel nucleotide analogue prodrug in development10,11) was initiated on the evening of day 7, and no adverse events were observed in association with the infusion.Quote:
"To my knowledge, this is the first reported case in the world where this drug has been used against this virus," Jay Cook, chief medical officer at the center, told reporters on a conference call Friday. "At the time, we felt the benefits of using this drug outweighed whatever potential risk there might be and we obtained his informed consent."
The patient's pneumonia appeared to improve within a day, with no obvious side effects, after the intravenous drug was administered, his doctors reported in the New England Journal of Medicine Friday. The finding should encourage randomized, controlled clinical trials to determine its safety and efficacy for treating 2019-nCoV infections, they said.
The drug was approved for use on compassionate grounds. It's not licensed or approved anywhere in the world, and hasn't been demonstrated to be safe or effective for any use, Foster City, California-based Gilead said in a statement.
Granted this is a sample size of 1, but if remdesivir cures nCV2019, that is AWESOME news