Remdesivir

Remdesivir (I had to add it to spell check). From the maker of the product:

Remdesivir is an investigational nucleotide analog with broad-spectrum antiviral activity – it is not approved anywhere globally for any use.

I had to look some other bits up too:

• A Nucleotide is a compound consisting of a nucleoside linked to a phosphate group. Nucleotides form the basic structural unit of nucleic acids such as DNA.
• A phosphate group is made when a phosphorus atom is surrounded by four oxygen atoms and then attached to (one of many) carbon-containing molecules in our bodies.
• A phosphate group can activate proteins, referred to as phosphorylated. When phosphorylated, a protein is activated and can do a different job, such as carrying a message to another protein in the cell, or even phosphorylating another protein.

:: whew ::

That’s as far as I got down the rabbit hole before I remembered the words of Dr. Fauci:

“The data shows that Remdesivir has a clear-cut, significant, positive effect in diminishing the time to recovery ..”

and

“What it has proven is that a drug can block this virus.”

It does so by blocking an enzyme that the virus uses, slowing the growth / spread within a patient.

You’ve read the results by now: in a small (but significant) test, people who were administered the drug (intravenously) recovered three days sooner (11-14 days) than those in the placebo group. This is significant because:

• Getting well is always better .. although this cohort would have likely gotten well on their own.
• Shorter duration is always better .. less time for the virus to do damage to your lungs or other organs.
• It gives us all some hope .. and helps revise targets for the researchers.

It is not a cure .. you have to have the virus for it to be effective. It slows the growth of the virus so your body can build the antibodies to kill it.

It is good news. Please don’t read my notes above in any way that says otherwise. It doesn’t get us out of the woods .. We still have to avoid undoing all the good we’ve done, and testing is still a critical factor in getting to a ‘newer normal’.

Stay connected. Stay safe. Stay home.