[tim333]

My guess is this thing is bad - keeps spreading, high mortality and the best we can do is slow it until we have a vaccine. I'm kind of optimistic people may be able to speed the vaccine stuff when they see how bad the situation is.

Animal trials have started already

>Shanghai-based Tongji University School of Medicine and Stermirna Therapeutics Co., Ltd. The vaccine samples were injected into more than 100 mice Sunday, the report said.

and Imperial started animal trials yesterday.

vid of the Shanghai lot: https://youtu.be/BymUKDp-omQ

[cpascal]

There's also the ongoing Phase 3 Remdesivir trial. [1] Which was used in the treatment of Washington's 2019-nCoV case. The patient appears to have begun recovering soon after the remdesivir was administered and was released shortly after. [2][3]

> Treatment with intravenous remdesivir (a novel nucleotide analogue prodrug in development) was initiated on the evening of day 7, and no adverse events were observed in association with the infusion. Vancomycin was discontinued on the evening of day 7, and cefepime was discontinued on the following day, after serial negative procalcitonin levels and negative nasal PCR testing for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

> On hospital day 8 (illness day 12), the patient’s clinical condition improved. Supplemental oxygen was discontinued, and his oxygen saturation values improved to 94 to 96% while he was breathing ambient air. The previous bilateral lower-lobe rales were no longer present. His appetite improved, and he was asymptomatic aside from intermittent dry cough and rhinorrhea. As of January 30, 2020, the patient remains hospitalized. He is afebrile, and all symptoms have resolved with the exception of his cough, which is decreasing in severity.

This is obviously just a single patient’s outcome and not proof that Remdesevir is effective, but it’s just about the only positive news related to 2019-nCoV. Hopefully the trial yields good results.

[1] https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04257656

[2] https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2001191

[3] https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/health/snohomish-c...

[tim333]

That sounds promising. I see in in vitro trials chloroquine also seems to work which would be handy as it's cheap and widely available https://www.asbmb.org/asbmb-today/science/020620/could-an-ol... which would be. In fact I may even take some prophylactically for my Singapore jaunt. You don't even need a prescription to buy it in the UK

>Our findings reveal that remdesivir and chloroquine are highly effective in the control of 2019-nCoV infection in vitro. Since these compounds have been used in human patients with a safety track record and shown to be effective against various ailments, we suggest that they should be assessed in human patients suffering from the novel coronavirus disease. (Conclusion from the letter to Nature https://www.nature.com/articles/s41422-020-0282-0.pdf)

[Accujack]

That's nice, but not comparable to a vaccine. Treating people with this means saving more of those who would die, but death is only on impact of the virus (as serious as it is).

Without a vaccine, the only way to keep people from getting infected is to isolate them.