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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WVIR) – UVA researchers are looking to see if early treatment of COVID can prevent some long haul symptoms. 40 UVA patients with severe COVID volunteered for the study.
“These are patients with very, very severe COVID that brings you into the hospital where you require like supplemental oxygen,” Doctor Bill Petri said.
Dr. Petri says that long haul COVID, is a real problem, and it takes far longer to recover from than an average COVID case.
“Some people are experiencing symptoms as much as a year out from from having had COVID,” Dr. Petri said.
Patients in the study were given either Dupilumab or a placebo.
“What we found over one year is that there were significant fewer patients that died of COVID, who received the allergy drug,” Dr. Petri said.
The researchers also looked at patient’s lungs.
“We found that among all survivors, both placebo and Dupilumab, that the Dupilumab patients had better lung function as measured by something called a diffusion of carbon monoxide. It is a way of looking at while your lungs exchange air,” Dr. Petri said.
1 out of 4 patients on the allergy drug had abnormal lung function.
“We’ve seen a bigger difference, and so even a better benefit as far as surviving from COVID with the allergy drug, and then we’ve also seen that lung function is better,” Dr. Petri said.
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