Health skeptics Trump health worse than advertised

Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious disease specialist at the University of California, San Francisco, said he would be surprised if President Donald Trump recovered as quickly as White House physician Sean Conley had originally said. According to Dr. Chin-Hong, it is often the case that the patient is stable and discharged from the hospital, but the disease progresses much worse and must be hospitalized again.

“We call it ‘falling off a cliff,’ which usually happens after a week to 10 days,” he said.

Experts recommend closely monitoring the president’s health in the hospital, taking into account risks such as age and being overweight. These are factors that can quickly make the disease worse. Trump turns 74 this year and is obese.

Many doctors emphasize that the 7-10 day period after nCoV infection is especially important. The patient may progress in a worse direction. Some people’s bodies fight pathogens with an overactive immune response, which can lead to death.

Trump is receiving treatment at Walter Reed Military Hospital. For the past three days, Trump has been taking REGN-COV antibodies, the antiviral drug remdesiver, zinc supplements, vitamin D, famotidine (a drug that blocks stomach acid production), melatonin, and aspirin. The president of the United States has a high fever, he has to breathe oxygen, according to Sean Conley, a White House doctor, admitted on October 4, a day after he declared the president “better.” The oxygen concentration in Mr. Trump’s blood drops to 94%, while the average healthy person is 95-100%. The oxygen concentration is an important indicator of whether the disease is progressing or not.

Dr. Carlos del Rio, professor of medicine at Emory University in Atlanta, said: “It was the right thing to bring him back to Walter Reed Military Hospital for treatment. Any of us have seen Covid-19, especially at that age. They know they looked good a minute ago and not a minute later. “

Professor Robert Finberg, dean of the Massachusetts Medical University School of Medicine, said that Covid-19 in people with serious illnesses is divided into two phases. First, the virus multiplies, causing the immune system to overreact, creating an uncontrollable “cytokine storm.” Then the chemicals secreted by the white blood cells cause serious inflammation, especially affecting the heart and lungs. This reaction can be fatal.

Trump is being treated with the latest drug, the REGN-COV2 monoclonal antibody. Just days before Trump tested positive for nCoV, manufacturer Regeneron issued a statement on the effectiveness of the product for the first time. In the trial, the drug mixture was used for a new challenge to the virus, especially those that failed to initiate an immune response. By age and sex, Trump is in this group.

REGN-COV is not urgently approved or cleared by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Sometimes doctors administer drugs to patients under a humanitarian aid program.

Some experts are optimistic about the prospects for the drug. In general, monoclonal antibodies are quite safe and have been used in people with HIV and Ebola.

“It’s proven and the risk is very low,” said John Moore, a virologist at Weill Cornell School of Medicine.

It is not clear how long the president of the United States has been infected with the virus. Doctors will not draw conclusions before undergoing the final negative test.

Both monoclonal antibodies and the standard drug remdesivir directly attack nCoV, notes Dr. Finberg. Therefore, it is better to use them early, when the disease is still caused by the virus itself. But what is not clear is whether the combination of the two drugs is the optimal way to fight the virus.

Thuc Linh (Follow The Times of New York City)