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Antiviral drug remdesivir may cut risk of death in adults with severe COVID and kidney or liver disease
News brief48 minutes ago.
Mary Van Beusekom, MS
Topics
COVID-19
Early use of the intravenous antiviral drug remdesivir (RDV) may reduce the risk of death by 28 days in adults with kidney or liver disease hospitalized for COVID-19, scientists from the University of Illinois and drug maker Gilead Sciences report today in Clinical Infectious Diseases.
The researchers analyzed medical claims and hospital cost data for early RDV initiation among US adults diagnosed as having kidney or liver disease hospitalized for COVID-19 from 2021 to 2025. The patients, and controls who didn’t receive RDV, were stratified by supplemental oxygen use in the first two days after admission.
In total, 22,378 patients (11,189 each of RDV recipients and controls) had kidney disease, and 5,026 patients (2,513 per group) had liver disease.
The kidney cohort included patients with kidney disease who required renal replacement therapy in the year before RDV initiation. The liver cohort was made up of patients with conditions such as liver injury, cirrhosis, liver failure, and noninfectious hepatitis.
Drug halves risk in liver patients who didn’t receive oxygen
The risk of 28-day all-cause in-hospital death was lower among RDV recipients in both the kidney cohort (25% lower) and liver cohort (24% lower) than among controls. Nearly 70% of all patients in each cohort needed supplemental oxygen.The risk of death was 25% and 26% lower with early RDV use among kidney and liver patients who received supplemental oxygen and 49% lower in liver patients who didn’t receive oxygen. The decrease in kidney patients who didn’t receive oxygen wasn’t statistically significant.
“Since RDV is metabolized primarily through the liver, hepatic [liver] laboratory testing is recommended before and during RDV treatment,” the researchers wrote. “Nevertheless, the current study provides additional evidence to support the use of RDV to treat COVID-19 in patients with both renal [kidney] comorbidities and hepatic comorbidities.”
Quick takes: Schools resume in DR Congo; sprouts, mangos recalled; 2 H9N2 avian flu cases in China
News brief56 minutes ago.
Stephanie Soucheray, MA
Topics
Ebola
Salmonella
Avian Influenza (Bird Flu)
- Schools in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) are back in session amid the growing Ebola outbreak, though administrators are reporting low attendance in hotspots such as Ituri province. Teacher unions in that province called for delaying the start of the school year, but government officials said they were taking measures to make classrooms safer. The latest government numbers show 2,950 deaths among 6,100 cases, as officials struggle to control the outbreak, which is caused by the Bundibugyo strain and is now the largest outbreak in DRC history.
- Everything Sprouts has expanded its recall of Robust Radish Sprout Mix because it could have been cross-contaminated with Shiga toxin–producing Escherichia coli (STEC) or Salmonella from the company’s recalled alfalfa sprouts, according to a new notice from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The FDA also announced that Panorama Produce is recalling 302 boxes of size nine mangoes because they may be contaminated with Salmonella. No illnesses have been reported in association with this contamination, but he fruit was sold in Walmart stores in Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania from August 10 to 21.
- In its most recent updates, the World Health Organization (WHO) has noted two recent human H9N2 avian flu cases on mainland China in children exposed to birds at live poultry markets. The first patient is a boy under 5 years of age from Anhui Province whose symptoms began on August 3. The boy was hospitalized and later discharged. The second case was reported between August 21 and 27 in Beijing province. No other details were given. Since 2015, 179 cases of human infection with H9N2, including two deaths (both in people with underlying conditions), have been reported to the WHO in the Western Pacific Region. Of those cases, 176 were from China, two were from Taiwan, and one was from Vietnam.