LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Many are keeping a close eye on how President Donald Trump is doing since going to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center following a positive COVID-19 diagnosis.
Among those paying attention to the treatment plans is Vice Dean of Research at the University of Louisville School of Medicine Dr. Jon Klein. He spoke about the research on some of the treatment plans during a Facebook live question and answer session with Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer Saturday.
"As we learned this week to our sorrow, the virus does not care whether you are the lowest or highest in the land. The virus does not care what your party affiliation is. The virus simply looks to replicate in people who have not been exposed to it previously, and that is still probably at least 80 percent of the country,” Klein said.
The president's physicians said Trump received an experimental antibody cocktail treatment.
“There are two antibody products. One is from Eli Lilly up the road in Indianapolis. The other is from a company, Regeneron. What these two companies did is they looked at the serum from people who had recovered from COVID-19 and selected out the strongest, most effective antibodies and then synthesized them, so this is a synthetic monoclonal, meaning it only comes from two types of antibody in the Regeneron cocktail,” Klein said.
Klein said that does not have Food and Drug Administration authorization yet, so the president received it through compassionate clearance. The president's physicians also said Trump is taking remdesivir.
“Remdesivir is something that is being given very commonly to people with COVID-19. It is important to know that what little that has been published and subjected to rigorous peer review simply shows that it shortens the course. We do not have any real survival data from this. I think there was some posted, but not submitted for peer review,” Klein said.
During a news briefing Sunday, doctors at Walter Reed told reporters that the president is also receiving dexamethasone treatment, a steroid that is commonly used to treat patients with severe cases of the coronavirus.
As of Sunday morning, physicians said the president is doing well, and that he could be discharged from Walter Reed as early as Monday.