Gilead said last month it had developed the nebulised formulation of the antiviral, which at the moment is administered by intravenous infusion, to extend its use into the outpatient setting and provide more targeted treatment that could reduce systemic exposure to the drug.IV remdesivir has been shown to shorten recovery time in patients with COVID-19, but there have been reports of some side effects with the drug that could force treatment to be interrupted.
This week, doctors in the Netherlands described a case of a man who developed liver damage “most likely caused by remdesivir”, but also possibly related to a drug interaction with chloroquine – which is also being tested as a COVID-19 treatment.They wrote in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases that patients on remdesivir should be monitored for liver damage as a matter of course.
- https://pharmaphorum.com/news/gilead-starts-trials-of-inhaled-remdesivir-for-earlier-stage-covid-19/
COVID-19 Herd Immunity Is Unlikely
On June 26, Dr. Anthony Fauci announced it’s “unlikely” that a COVID-19 vaccine with 70-75% efficacy taken by two-thirds of Americans can provide herd immunity to the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. His statement has since stirred discussion about America’s anti-vaccine movement. A crucial question remains unanswered, however: Is COVID-19 even subject to herd immunity? From universities to sports teams, top experts are still debating this issue. While the world anxiously awaits a vaccine, the length and durability of the protective immunity it would provide is far more in doubt than one might think.
A new study from China shows that antibodies can disappear in two to three months. The study further found that immunity is shorter for asymptomatic patients than symptomatic ones: The less symptomatic a person is, the weaker the immune response and antibody strength. “Young people who have mild disease or asymptomatic disease, their antibodies may never rise very high,” said Sankar Swaminathan, chief of infectious diseases at the University of Utah. “We don’t even know if those antibodies are protective.”