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-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-
China Approves Use Of Immunosuppressive Arthritis Drug For Covid-19 Patients, more possibilities in the pipeline
2020-03-05
[ChannelNewsAsia] China will use a Roche Holding arthritis drug to treat some COVID-19 patients in severe conditions, health authorities said on Wednesday (Mar 4), as the country seeks to build up treatment regiments to help the infected recover.

Tocilizumab, sold by the Swiss pharma giant under the trade name Actemra, can be prescribed to coronavirus patients who show serious lung damage and show elevated level of a protein called Interleukin 6, which could indicate inflammation or immunological diseases, the National Health Commission said in the latest version of its treatment guidelines published online.

Actemra can help contain inflammation related to Interleukin 6, according to Roche.
Posted by:Elmerert Hupens2660

#4  #2 Immune system has several modes of response - depending on the pathogen. A wrong response is worse than no response. See this Wikipedia article for details.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru   2020-03-05 13:10  

#3  Immunosuppressant? A drug that suppresses the immune response of an individual.

They believe that the severe complications like lung damage are caused by an autoimmune reaction triggered by the virus.

This would provide an explanation for the fact that so far only older people have experienced these complications.

Perhaps there was some pathogen around, years ago , that made immune systems pathologically sensitive to something like corona.
Younger individuals would have never encountered that pathogen, hence no severe complications, even in individuals with compromised health status.
Posted by: Elmerert Hupens2660   2020-03-05 13:00  

#2  Immunosuppressant? A drug that suppresses the immune response of an individual. Now how would that work. Reminds me of the boy in the bubble. I think I would try Jack Daniels throat spray first.
Posted by: Dale   2020-03-05 12:33  

#1  There is no clinical trial evidence yet that the drug will be effective on coronavirus patients, however.

"Let's throw it against the wall and see if it sticks!"
Posted by: Skidmark   2020-03-05 11:32  

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