Remdesivir May Keep Unvaccinated Out of the Hospital: Study

Dec. 23, 2021 -- The antiviral remdesivir, an intravenous cause fixed mostly to earnestly sick COVID-19 patients successful hospitals, could support unvaccinated radical who go infected retired of the infirmary if fixed connected an outpatient basis, a caller survey says.

Researchers studied 562 unvaccinated radical from September 2020 to April 2021, according to the survey published successful the New England Journal of Medicine. The survey determined the hazard of hospitalization oregon decease was 87% little successful survey participants who were fixed remdesivir than participants who received a placebo.

All participants were astatine precocious hazard of processing terrible COVID-19 due to the fact that of their property -- they were implicit 60 -- oregon due to the fact that they had an underlying aesculapian information specified arsenic diabetes oregon obesity.

An important caveat: The findings are based connected information collected earlier the Delta variant surged past summertime oregon the Omicron variant surged precocious this year, The Washington Post reported.

The caller survey says the cause could beryllium adjuvant successful keeping vaccinated arsenic good arsenic unvaccinated radical retired of the infirmary -- an important origin arsenic the Omicron surge threatens to overwhelm wellness systems astir the world.

Remdesivir could beryllium a boon for COVID-19 patients successful parts of the satellite that don’t person vaccines oregon for patients with immunocompromised systems.

“These information supply grounds that a 3-day people of remdesivir could play a captious relation successful helping COVID-19 patients enactment retired of the hospital,” Robert L. Gottlieb, MD, PhD, the therapeutic pb for COVID-19 probe astatine Baylor Scott & White Health successful Dallas, said successful a quality merchandise from Gilead Pharmaceuticals.

“While our hospitals are acceptable to assistance patients successful need, prevention and aboriginal involution are preferable to trim the hazard of illness progression and let patients not requiring oxygen to retrieve from location erstwhile appropriate.”

Remdesivir was the archetypal antiviral for COVID-19 authorized by the FDA. It was fixed to then-President Donald Trump erstwhile helium was hospitalized with COVID-19 successful October 2020.

Gilead released the survey findings successful September.