Buffalo News: Covid-19 treatments start making an impact at regional hospitals

Released: 5/9/2020 9:04:53 AM

By Scott Scanlon
Published 6:00 a.m. May 9, 2020
 
Front-line health workers caring for Covid-19 patients are providing traditional flu-fighting weapons as they continue to explore how to bring down fevers, prevent blood clots and find the sweet spot for immune responses that will slow the disease without the need of ventilators.

Meanwhile, three of four experimental treatments deployed in the region show early promise.

A clinical trial with the anti-inflammatory drug sarilumab continues; the first doses of the antiviral drug remdesivir have arrived; and dozens of people have received antibody treatments from the blood of those who tested positive for the novel coronavirus and no longer have symptoms.

“The most important thing is to get people into studies right now because that's a way we learn and potentially give some benefit,” said Dr. Sanjay Sethi, director of the Clinical Research Office with the University at Buffalo.

Sethi is among researchers who temper their optimism with caution as experimental treatments proceed hopefully toward a vaccine and cure. Intensive measures can help even some of the most critically ill recover but there remains no proven treatment, and roughly 2,000 Americans continue to die daily from Covid-19.“Families should not expect miracles that people will turn around right away because we're using these treatments on very sick people,” Sethi said. “Even if they stop the virus or stop the (inflammatory) storm, there's a lot of damage and a lot of healing that needs to happen before patients get better.”

Here is the latest look at the most immediate treatments.

To read full article, go to https://buffalonews.com/2020/05/09/covid-19-treatments-start-making-an-impact-at-regional-hospitals/.