Most subjects who received oxygen support without requiring invasive oxygen support (placed on a ventilator) experienced recovery (71%) and all subjects able to breathe on their own recovered. Patients who required a ventilators and those over 70 years of age had less improvement that those younger than 50 years.
The overall mortality rate was 13% in this group of seriously ill COVID-19 patients. This appears to be a lower rate that what is usually seen among advanced patients. This study is referred to as a “compassionate use” study which is a mechanism whereby sick people with no treatment options may gain access to a medication or procedure that might help them, but has not be proven to be effective.
Just a week after this report appeared, some information regarding a Remdesivir trial was released from the University of Chicago. This is an ongoing study of individuals with severe COVID-19 disease. In this study, there were some pretty encouraging results. Many patients quickly experienced their fevers improve and came off ventilators. Many of these very sick patients recovered enough to be discharged from the hospital. But there are some important considerations here.
While the second clinical trial is still ongoing, neither that study or the other trial had a control group included in the study. All the study participants received Remdesivir.