Cook County Health Running Clinical Trials On Drug To Fight COVID-19

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CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- There are a few clinical trials being done of a particular drug that might have promise in the fight against COVID-19 and one of those studies is being done by doctors at Cook County Health.Cook County Health is among 100 locations worldwide looking at the possible effectiveness of five- and 10-day treatments of the drug Remdesivir. It’s already a drug found to be effective against Ebola.Infectious disease Dr. Gregory Huhn, of Cook County Health, said patients started being enrolled in the study nearly a week ago.  In all, Dr. Huhn said 50 patients at Stroger Hospital of Cook County will be part of the clinical trial.

The trial has two parts, one for patients with moderate COVID-19, the other for those with severe cases of the disease. Most coming in to the hospital now, he said, are severe."We have had a couple of patients that have completed their course and those patients are going home off oxygen. So, a good sign, an early sign, but still too soon, much too soon to determine the overall effectiveness," he said.Dr. Huhn said he's not aware of any patients with severe cases of COVID-19 being discharged from the hospital.Dr. Huhn said Remdesivir inhibits the replication of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.  

"It limits the potential for acceleration of the virus to get to very high numbers in the body that could potentially drive respiratory damage and worsen pneumonia," he said.All the patients in the Cook County Health trial have viral pneumonia.

"Patients that don’t require oxygen, they are randomized. They have a one in three chance of either five days of Remdesivir, 10 days of Remdesivir or standard of care, which would be no drug," Dr. Huhn said.The doctor said the patients are observed during their hospitalization to see how their oxygen status is doing up until they're discharged. Patients know if they're getting the drug or not and for how long, if they are getting it.Dr. Huhn said he feels it’s important for Cook County Health to be part of the study of Remdesivir.  "

We feel that this is an important opportunity to be on the leading edge, to be on the vanguard to offer, hopefully, a potentially effective and safe therapy," he said.