Drug proves effective against virus as economic damage rises

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

By MARTIN CRUTSINGER, MARILYNN MARCHIONE and PAT EATON-ROBB

Scientists on Wednesday announced the first effective treatment against the coronavirus — an experimental drug that can speed the recovery of COVID-19 patients — in a major medical advance that came as the economic gloom caused by the scourge deepened in the U.S. and Europe.

The U.S. government said it is working to make the antiviral medication remdesivir available to patients as quickly as possible.

“What it has proven is that a drug can block this virus,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government’s top infectious-disease expert. “This will be the standard of care.”

Stocks surged around the world on the news, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average gaining more than 530 points on the day, or over 2%.


Read more: https://apnews.com/923e7fe01b35888ff5562ca577a26aa4

[msongs]

1. marginal benefit made to like the cure of all cures. trump must love this nt

[The Magistrate]

2. The Headline Is A Bit In Advance Of What Has Been Shown, Sir

It reduced time in hospital by about a third in patients who received it. This is certainly medically effective, but it isn't something that fixes you right up, which I suspect will be the meaning many take from 'proven effective'. The most important thing is that the trial has shown a drug can have effect, and figuring why and how it does will surely point the way to more effective compounds.

[DrToast]

15. No, the headline is accurate

You seem to be ascribing some belief of “many” people (many are saying) without providing any evidence.

“Oh I don’t think that, but many are saying that!”

The drug is effective at treating COVID-19. Not a single thing about that is wrong or misleading.

[The Magistrate]

21. If You Were Unfamiliar With Chess, Sir

You might take no meaning from something being referred to as being like 'a knight's fork', or a 'bishop's move', though a quite clear meaning would be conveyed to a person who plays the game. Medicine, like law, and most skilled endeavors, has a number of terms which may appear to be commonplace words but are not, and mean something different to a practitioner discussing the vocation than they do to a layman.

A drug which reduces time of infection by about a third, and rate of death by a similar proportion, is certainly effective, in medical terms, and far better than no treatment. But it remains the case that many hearing something is effective against an illness will be thinking more along the lines of what a course of antibiotics will do for most instances of pneumonia, and picture something which will reverse the course of the malady, and can be relied on to restore health in fairly short order.

When it is fully understood why and how this drug works against this virus, it seems to me likely that ways to improve its action, and attack the virus with greater effect, will be found. Getting something that works at all is a profound advance, and points the way to better agents.

[DrToast]

22. Many people are saying

Yes, not everyone as BRILLIANT as you, huh? Those common pleebs can't be expected to understand what a "treatment" is.

Good lord.

[The Magistrate]

23. Sounds Like You Need a Night-Cap, Sir

Irish whiskey always made me want to fight somebody, but rum settles and soothes....

[DrToast]

25. What do hats have to do with this?

[pbmus]

26. 😂 LoL

[cstanleytech]

3. Uh huh but what are the potential side effects? After all a drug that helps stop

the virus but has a 80% chance of causing liver or brain cancer is not exactly something to start celebrating over.

[Native]

8. More info on possible side effects here:

https://www.pharmaceutical-technology.com/comment/gilead-remdesivir-covid-19/

[cstanleytech]

10. Looks like they have a long way to go if

I am reading it correctly before it can be certified as part of a treatment regime assuming of course it passes all the trials.

[Massacure]

16. Indeed.

From an article linked to from the article posted in the OP, there are two notable quotes:

Fauci revealed the results while speaking from the White House. Remdesivir was being evaluated in at least seven major studies, but this one, led by the NIH, was the strictest test. Independent monitors notified study leaders just days ago that the drug was working, so it was no longer ethical to continue with a placebo group

Gilead said it was ramping up production and aims to have more than 140,000 treatment courses by the end of May, more than 500,000 by October and more than 1 million by December.

https://apnews.com/b894f3b39f6915dcc3cc402438deaf0b


It looks like Gilead is ramping up production and anticpates being able to produce enough remdesivir to treat 150,000 people a month. About 30,000 people are being infected per day in the US, so that is only enough to treat one sixth of the cases.

[DrToast]

17. The vast majority of cases don't need the drug

This will be used for hospitalizations.

[LisaL]

31. The drug appears to be most effective if given early in the course of the disease.

I don't think it makes sense to wait until a person is so sick they need to be hospitalized.

[DrToast]

35. There's going to have to be some difficult decisions on who gets the drug

It's definitely a bit of a dilemma that it workers better the earlier you give it, but you only want to save it for the most severe cases.

I'm glad I don't have to decide that.

[LisaL]

37. Well, I would assume the elderly and those with pre-existing conditions

should get it early on, since they are in most severe risk of dying.

[DrToast]

38. I would think so, too

I was just taking issue with the original post that there's not enough for every case. There doesn't need to be for it to be very helpful.

[DeminPennswoods]

19. If NIH deems it unethical to continue with placebo recipients,

remdesivir must be pretty effective.

The Salk polio vaccine was sent immediately into production and given to kids once it was shown to be effective. There is definitely precedent.

If there is an effective treatment, then life can go back to normal because if a person contracts the virus, there's an effective treatment available meaning less overall fear and anxiety along with the need for mitigation efforts.

[cstanleytech]

20. "remdesivir must be pretty effective." Perhaps or the other possibility is they

are aware of the public wanting to see some progress being made so they are willing to throw caution to the wind.

[DeminPennswoods]

33. This is a controlled, double blind study

The gold standard of drug studies and it's being run by career pros at NIH. Fauci has danced around Trump's lies at times, but there is no reason to think he would not be speaking truthfully about the ongoing drug study.

[DrToast]

24. Yes, when a drug is proven effective and you're dealing with life threatening conditions...

...it's common to end the placebo portion of the study.

If we weren't talking about life threatening conditions, then you could justify continuing the double blind study.

[yaesu]

4. gots to pump them stocks up. nt

[Grokenstein]

5. Who wants to be a lab rat?

Don't everyone raise your hand at once, now.

[Steelrolled]

18. Plenty will.

I imagine I would seriously consider it if admitted to hospital.

[Aussie105]

29. I'd volunteer. I'd ask for it. I'd insist on it.

Having had H1N1 swine flu, and recovered quickly with a batch of tamiflu.

No side effects.

The 'lab rat' part of the study on remdesivir is over.

[LisaL]

30. Oh please.

You think people would turn it down?
The problem is going to be, not having enough of the drug, not people turning it down.

[noneof_theabove]

6. totally inferior

Bleach and Lysol have a 100% efficacy within hours and as low as minutes.

One minor draw back though, it kills the host but hey it works.

[/sarcasm]

[Maxheader]

7. Whatever ends up working..and I hope it is soon...

The yellow haired traitor will claim it was its idea..Maybe want its picture or initials on the

syringe...or pills...

[progree]

9. That's a super super duper map, BTW - U.S. map with PER CAPITA cases by county

(actually cases per 100,000)
https://apnews.com/923e7fe01b35888ff5562ca577a26aa4
And zoomable. And one can hover the mouse over any county and it and it will pop up statistics for that county including deaths per 100,000 as well raw number of cases and raw number of deaths.

It says the source is John Hopkins University, but the only one I can find for JHU is this:

https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/us-map

which doesn't show the state boundaries and (b) it's total cases per county, not cases per capita by county.

[truthisfreedom]

11. I can't believe Fauci is hyping this drug on these half-assed trials.

He must be facing unbearable pressure from the administration. This doesn’t seem like him.

[DrToast]

14. How is it a half-assed trial?

[rocktivity]

12. Front-end mass testing will prove to be even more effective

by getting as many infected as people possible off the streets.


rocktivity

[larwdem]

13. this is

This is like A fucking band aid

[Aussie105]

28. Better than nothing. Open wound or band aid?

Your choice.

[Aussie105]

27. If it is like the tamiflu given to me for swine flu (H1N1)

then it certainly is effective.

But it doesn't prevent you from catching the virus, it just speeds up recovery.

Best thing available for treatment, certainly better than Trump's laughable suggestions, until a vaccine is available.

Crank up the remdesivir machinery, we are going to need mountains of it!

[Danascot]

32. They're also looking into famotidine/Pepsid

https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/04/new-york-clinical-trial-quietly-tests-heartburn-remedy-against-coronavirus#

[DeminPennswoods]

34. They kept this trial under wraps

probably for fear people would run out, buy pepsid and swallow it by the fistfuls.

[LisaL]

36. Better than drinking bleach, no?

[DeminPennswoods]

39. Less poisonous for sure

nt