CV-19 therapeutic drug trials and Vaccine

[_Jersey Girl]

I was watching youtube videos and came across one by a lung doctor who explained the pathogenesis of CV-19, how the virus enters the body, what it does to your lungs and how people essentially crash due to ARDS-- it kills some people but not others. Right? In the video he mentions a couple of medications saying that people who take them will likely have an easier go of it if infected because they ward off ARDS and my antennae went up*. He refers to another video he's done about the current drug trials involving 10 (I believe) medications.

I watched the second video. He explains how the clinical trials work and he goes through each medication and explains how each one works, then offers his opinion regarding the potential for each to emerge as a first line treatment for COVID-19 and ranks them. (I quickly looked up some of the clinical trials and they check out.)

He even goes over the monoclonal antibodies and how they make one vulnerable to other infection (which I already knew about long before CV-19 came along) and the use of convalescent plasma.

The clinical trials are something I hadn't looked into yet except for reading about Remdesivir and Hydroxychloroquine. I think these videos are a good intro to the topic.

If you are interested:

Video 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LV8wWhjTKRU

Video 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBWaWqXZgko

* My antenna went up because JB and I both take one of the listed meds that are currently under trial. :surprised: The fact that these are being trialed as therapeutic treatments for CV-19 has got me thinking that they might be protective for us.

[_EAllusion]

This isn't a direct response, but I did some weekend catching up on scientific publications on the disease and came away with the impression that we still know very little about how it works, what symptoms it causes in what populations, and why. I was surprised because I thought the global focus and large population size to study would speed things up more than they have, but that may have been an unrealistic expectation.

[_Jersey Girl]

That's direct enough, EA. I came upon that first video just on chance. I'm going to turn my attention to the clinical trials now and investigate further. What I liked about the two videos is that he explained his rationale and both are instructive to regular folks without a medical background.

Do you think that it's difficult to gather global information for study is because the information is incomplete? I haven't looked at any of that. I'm wondering if the symptoms issue is because some symptoms are under reported?

I also read an article last night (actually wee hours of the morning) where NYC is dosing up patients with high doses of heartburn meds--Pepcid I believe it was because they suspected it was helping. So whatever hospital that was, they're doing their own in-house clinical trial on that.

Yeah, so I'm going to learn more about the clinical trials that are accessible online. I've been reading clinical trials/studies for 6 years now I figure I can wade my way through them with some amount of understanding. I checked 3 or so from the video and they're right there for the reading.

[_Res Ipsa]

I think it’s partly because early information gathered in a crisis setting is likely to get significant things wrong. That, plus the fact that this coronavirus is behaving in ways we haven’t seen before. It’s creating all kinds of conditions that kill us, but we don’t know yet how it’s doing it.

I haven’t had time to dig into drug trials. Please let us know what you find.

[_Jersey Girl]

RI if you have interest and time, watch the first video I linked where the doc is explaining how the virus manifests itself in humans...how it enters and it's mechanisms. It demonstrates why they're trialing the drugs that they are.

I dunno. If I had to choose an option this very second, I'd go for the convalescent plasma which I am sure is in short supply.

[_Jersey Girl]

ETA: I forgot to mention this. The doc in the video suspects that the reason that the fatality rates are higher in males than females has to do with estrogen.

[_Jersey Girl]

Remdesivir

Fauci touts clinical trial of COVID drug as 'quite good news'

https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/4 ... -good-news

[_Jersey Girl]

Remdesivir

Fauci touts clinical trial of COVID drug as 'quite good news'

https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/4 ... -good-news

And...the FDA is planning to issue an emergency authorization for Remdesivir.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/29/us/c ... eaths.html

[_Jersey Girl]

If you guys listen to the Fauci remarks, notice where he discusses that Remdesivir blocks an enzyme. That's exactly why they're also trialing the ACE inhibitors because they suspect the enzyme is how the virus enters the body and ends up causing the cytokine storm that cause patients to develop ARDS. Patients start tanking, end up on vents and either recover or die from it, so they're trying to find therapeutic options that block the enzyme from the start.

If you saw a dust up in the news about a study in Wuhan that doesn't lean in favor of Remdesivir, Dr. Fauci addresses that as well in the link that I posted.

Anyway, some promising research going on. I think that if I were to become infected with this virus and if I had a say in it, I'd go for convalescent plasma.

[_Icarus]

Yes this is great news indeed. If not a cure it seems to be, at the very least, a drug that can minimize the severity of the infection.

Kinda like Tamiflu for Influenza. The news about this drug has escaped the headlines for months, but probably because it was living in Hydroxychloroquine's shadow the whole time.

February 25:
Gilead Sciences drug remdesivir may help treat coronavirus symptoms
https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/24/investin ... index.html

March 9:
"Researchers are studying whether the antiviral drug remdesivir might work, but testing of that drug just started."
https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/09/health/c ... index.html

March 30:
"Officials at the World Health Organization have touted remdesivir as having the most potential to effectively treat coronavirus patients. The WHO has begun clinical tests of the drug on patients in Spain and Norway."
https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/30/investin ... index.html