SIGN UP FOR BREAKING NEWS Get local stories sent straight to your inbox as news breaks. Submit Privacy Notice

UC Davis used experimental drug to treat COVID-19 patient Share Shares Copy Link Copy

Hide Transcript Show Transcript

AND TONIGHT, WE ARE NOW LEARNING MORE ABOUT THE FIRST CASE OF CORONAVIRUS DETERMINED TO BE COMMUNITY-SPREAD IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA. GULSTAN: A BIT OF BRIGHT NEWS. THE FINDINGS IN THE NEW REPORT SUGGESTING AN EXPERIMENTAL DRUG MAY HAVE PLAYED IN ROLE IN THE PATIENT GETTING BETTER. KCRA 3’S BRANDI CUMMINGS IS LIVE IN THE NEWROOM WITH DETAILS. BRANDI: UC DAVIS TOLD US ABOUT THE PATIENT LAST MONTH. THE PERSON WAS TREATED AND IS RECOVERING AT HOME. WE FOUND OUT THE INDIVIDUAL WAS A WOMAN IN HER 40’S FROM SOLANO COUNTY WHO HAD NO UNDERLYING HEALTH PROBLEMS. DOCTORS FIRST THOUGHT SHE WAS SUFFERING FROM PNEUMONIA, BUT SHE GOT WORSE WITHIN 24 HOURS. DOCTORS SUSPECTED COVID-19, BUT SHE DIDN’T MEET CDC GUIDELINES FOR TESTING. HER CONDITION KEPT GETTING WORSE, TO THE POINT OF BEING LIFE-THREATENING. EVENTUALLY, DOCTORS GOT APPROVAL TO TEST HER, AND THE TEST CAME BACK POSITIVE FOR CORONAVIRUS. HER TREATMENT AND EVENTUAL RECOVERY CHANGED THE PROCESS FOR EVERYONE ELSE WHO IS NOW ABLE TO GET TESTED. >> AS SOON AS THE PATIENT TURNED OUT TO BE POSITIVE, PEOPLE REALIZED THAT IT WAS NOT NECESSARY TO TRAVEL TO CHINA DIRECTLY, OR TO HAVE A DIRECT CONTACT WITH SOMEONE WHO WENT TO CHINA DIRECTLY, IN ORDER TO BE INFECTED WITH THIS VIRUS. AND THAT’S WHY THE TESTING CRITERIA WERE RELAXED AT THAT TIME, AND THAT’S WHY IT WAS REALIZED THAT COMMUNITY SPREADING OF THIS DISEASE WAS POSSIBLE. BRANDI: THIS WAS THE FIRST CASE AT UC DAVIS. AS SOON AS THE CDC ALLOWED FOR THE TESTING AND IT CAME BACK POSITIVE, DOCTORS ASKED FOR THE FDA TO GIVE APPROVAL TO USE AN EXPERIMENTAL DRUG. THE DRUG HAD ONLY PREVIOUSLY BEEN USED ON ANIMALS. >> ORIGINALLY, THIS DRUG WAS TESTED IN A VETERINARY HOSPITAL AT UC DAVIS BY A PHYSICIAN WHO WAS STUDYING, FOR 50 YEARS, A FELINE DISEASE CAUSED BY CORONAVIRUS. AND SEVERAL YEARS BACK, HIS STUDIES SHOWED THAT WHEN THE SEVERE CASE AROUND THIS LETHAL DISEASE, HE CURED MOST OF THE CATS. HIS STUDIES WERE USED BY THE CHINESE INVESTIGATORS WHO, BACK IN DECEMBER, INFECTED MONKEYS WITH THE CORONAVIRUS AND TRIED THIS DRUG IN THESE MONKEYS, AND REALIZED THAT EVEN THOUGH IN THE EBOLA TRIALS THIS DRUG WASN’T EFFECTIVE, IT APPEARS TO BE EFFECTIVE IN TREATING CORONAVIRUS INFECTIONS. BRANDI: SO I WANTED TO FIND OUT IF THIS DRUG HAD BEEN EFFECTIVE IN ANIMALS, IF IT HAD BEEN EFFECTIVE IN AT LEAST ONE HUMAN CASE, WHY ISN’T THE DRUG NOW BEING USED ON PEOPLE WHO HAVE TESTED POSITIVE FOR CORONAVIRUS? HERE’S WHAT THE DOCTOR TOLD ME. >> THE DRUG IS STILL CONSIDERED TO BE EXPERIMENTAL. IN ORDER FOR OFFICIAL GUIDELINES TO BE CHANGED, THERE HAS TO BE A VERY SOLID EVIDENCE PROVIDED THAT THE DRUG INDEED WORKS. YES, IN ONE PATIENT, THAT’S OUR PATIENT, IT WORKED, AND IT WORKED IN THE MONKEYS, AND IT PROBABLY WORKED IN OTHER CASES, TOO. WE DON’T KNOW THE TRIAL RESULTS YET. AND IT JUST WOULD NOT BE ETHICAL, BASED UPON THIS SINGLE OCCURRENCE, TO START WIDESPREAD ADMINISTRATION OF THE DRUG, NOT KNOWING HOW IT WORKS AND WHETHER THE EFFECTS ARE SIGNIFICANT. THERE IS A SCIENTIFIC METHOD, AND WE HAVE TO ADHERE TO THAT, AND THAT HAS TO BE FOLLOWED IN ORDER TO APPROVE DRUG STATUS FOR COMPOUND DEATHS BEING STUDIED. BRANDI: SO THE GOOD NEWS IN ALL THIS, AS WE REPORTED BEFORE, THERE ARE TRIALS GOING ON RIGHT NOW, CLINICAL TRIALS. AND SOME UC DAVIS PATIENTS HAVE RECEIVED THE EXPERIMENTAL DRUG. ALTHOUGH WE DON’T KNOW YET WHAT THEIR CONDITIONS ARE. THE DOCTOR TOL