Less than a week into President Trump’s coronavirus diagnoses, Kettering Health Network’s Patient Safety Officer Dr. Jeffrey Weinstein says days five through seven after diagnoses are COVID-19 patients toughest.
“The tricky thing here is a lot of patients kind of smolder and do well for the first 5-7 days and then they can take a turn for the worse,” Dr. Weinstein said.
At Walter Reed Medical Center, the President is under the care of white house physician Dr. Conley and is receiving several treatments for COVID-19 including a drug called dexamethasone.
“It’s a steroid which has been in use for decades,” Dr. Weinstein said. “That helps decrease inflammation and it seems to be helpful for patients who have COVID who require oxygen therapy.”
The President is also taking a 5-day dosage of Remdesivir.
>>Dr. Sean Conley to give an update on President Trump’s condition Saturday morning
“This is an antiviral drug that directly attacks the virus and reduces its replication,” Dr. Weinstein said Remdesivir is most often given to patients in the early stages of their diagnoses.
The President also received, what doctors are referring to, as an antibody cocktail.
“That is only available in the US on clinical trials right now, so they probably got that for him because he’s the president so he’s being treated aggressively,” Dr. Weinstein said.
Though not FDA approved, this Regeneron antibody cocktail works similarly to how convalescent plasma works in patients with severe coronavirus
“Essentially they’re creating a manmade antibody,” Dr. Weinstein said. “That contains a cocktail that contains only antibodies against sars-cov2 antibodies as opposed to a wide spectrum of antibodies that happen to be in the donor’s blood at that time.”
Dr. Weinstein says although some of these drugs are typically used to treat severe cases of coronavirus, it should not be cause for concern for the American people.
“Most people with COVID do fine, he has a few risk factors, he likely will be okay,” Dr. Weinstein said.
Dr. Conley also said the President is taking zinc, vitamin D, and aspirin.
Zinc can help the body fight off viruses while vitamin D is good for bone health.
The use of Asprin can help reduce the risk of blood clotting.
Cox Media Group
