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He came to the military hospital by helicopter!
The president of the United States, Donald Trump (74), was transferred to a clinic due to his Covid 19 infection. There he is treated with the corona drug Remdesivir, among other things.
Remdesi-WAS?
BILD clears up the biggest questions about the drug now being administered to the most powerful man in the world.
What is remdesivir?
Remdesivir was originally developed in 2003 as an Ebola virus drug, but was not approved.
Since the corona crisis, studies have been conducted examining whether the agent works against the new virus.
How does Remdesivir work?
The drug inhibits an enzyme that is essential for the virus to multiply.
▶ ︎ It is administered clinically by infusion.
Who will receive remdesivir?
Patients with severe respiratory symptoms who needed oxygen therapy could soon be treated with remdesivir, said Munich physician Clemens Wendtner, whose clinic has been involved in studies on the drug.
Remdesivir does not help patients who need artificial ventilation.
▶ ︎ The EMA recommendation for the drug applies to the treatment of adults and adolescents 12 years of age and older. The prerequisite for treatment is that the patient has pneumonia and needs additional oxygen.
VENTILATION
Doctors have established their procedure for the treatment of serious courses of corona diseases so that a so-called Step concept compromises. The change from one level to the next can happen very quickly; patients do not always go through all levels.
In the first stage, patients receive oxygen.where you normally breathe yourself.
If that’s not enough, one can non-invasive mask ventilation (CPAP procedure) to help you breathe. A slight overpressure helps patients breathe easier.
If it is too little to carry enough oxygen into the blood, intensive care physicians will ventilate the patient. invasive.
This means: Under anesthesia, patients have a tube placed in their windpipe and connected to a ventilator. The final stage in helping to breathe is the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide outside the body.
During ventilation / anesthesia, patients are regularly placed face down so that oxygen can reach all parts of the lungs. Doctors regularly check X-rays and CT images to find the right time to end ventilation.
What successes has Remdesivir achieved?
“We have shown that the drug alleviates the severe course of Covid 19 disease and shortens the phase of the disease by about four days.”
This is what Gerd Fätkenheuer, head of infectious diseases at the Cologne University Hospital, who was also involved in the studies, told the German Press Agency.
The patients treated with remdesivir had a recovery time of 11 days, those of the control group 15.
Remdesivir is generally very well tolerated, says Fätkenheuer. The study even recorded more side effects in the control group than in remdesivir patients. However, people in both groups died from the coronavirus.
In the study, the agent was tested in patients with both mild and severe illnesses, Fätkenheuer reports. Remdesivir would particularly benefit patients in the early stages of the disease.
What criticism is there?
“There is no evidence that we are saving lives here.”
So says Uwe Janssens, president of the German Interdisciplinary Association for Intensive and Emergency Medicine (DIVI). It emphasizes that until now there has been no published evidence that remdesivir reduces mortality.
For him, successful treatment means, among other things, a substantial reduction in mortality. And according to the current state, this is not the case.
“There is definitely a lack of valid and reliable long-term results for patients with Covid 19,” Janssens also emphasizes.
Fätkenheuer rejects the criticism: If you read ‘I was sick four days less,’ you might say: Well, what’s the point? Does that matter that much? But of course there is a world of difference between whether someone comes to the intensive care unit and receives artificial ventilation or whether it is avoided. And that may depend on this drug, we had cases of this type in the study. ”
Are there any side effects?
It’s not clear!
The EU Medicines Agency (EMA) claims to be examining reports of possible kidney damage from taking the medicine.
There have been reports that some corona patients have suffered acute kidney damage after taking the drug, the authority said on Friday. Now it is being investigated if there is a causal relationship. It’s also possible that Covid-19 can cause kidney damage itself.
Does the drug also exist in Germany?
Yes! Remdesivir was approved as the first drug for corona treatment in the EU on July 3 and is also available to patients in Germany. The expenses are reimbursed by the sick. However, the remedy is only available by prescription.
