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There’s no cure for coronavirus, but this is a good summary of the progress being made on treatments.
Amongst all the gloom, the UK is doing tremendous work here: we’re running the world's largest clinical trial (Recovery) with more than 12,000 patients. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-52354520
Amongst all the gloom, the UK is doing tremendous work here: we’re running the world's largest clinical trial (Recovery) with more than 12,000 patients. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-52354520
There are three broad approaches being investigated:
Antiviral drugs
Drugs that calm the immune system
Antibodies that can target the virus
Recovery is one of only a few trials to have given a definitive view on which drugs do and do not work.
Antiviral drugsDrugs that calm the immune systemAntibodies that can target the virusRecovery is one of only a few trials to have given a definitive view on which drugs do and do not work.
The steroid dexamethasone has been shown to cut the risk of death by a third for patients on ventilators and by a fifth for those on oxygen.
Two anti-inflammatory medications, tocilizumab and sarilumab, were found to reduce the number of deaths in intensive care from 36% to 27%.
Two anti-inflammatory medications, tocilizumab and sarilumab, were found to reduce the number of deaths in intensive care from 36% to 27%.
A large-scale trial involving inhaling a protein (interferon beta) has just begun in the UK. Early findings suggest it could cut the odds of developing severe disease by ~80%.
Other treatments, including transfusing blood plasma from recovered patients, are still being trialled.
Other treatments, including transfusing blood plasma from recovered patients, are still being trialled.
When @CMO_England said “science will in due course ride to our rescue” he wasn’t just talking about vaccines.
We will have to learn to live with COVID-19 in the long-term, and the treatments being trialled and tested in the UK right now will in essence make it a milder disease.
We will have to learn to live with COVID-19 in the long-term, and the treatments being trialled and tested in the UK right now will in essence make it a milder disease.
