Treatments of the COVID-19 virus have changed since St. Cloud Hospital and CentraCare was first faced with the challenge of working with COVID-19 patients in the spring of 2020.  CentraCare Spokesman Dr. George Morris joined me on WJON today.  These are the treatments they use for COVID-19 patients:

Remdesivir - Is an antiviral.  Dr. Morris says it attacks some of the receptors on the COVID-19 virus so it doesn't replicate as much for you body can clear it faster.

Monoclonal Antibodies - Dr. Morris says pharmaceutical companies take COVID-19 antibodies and inject them into the body of the exposed person to assist in fighting the virus.  Morris says for example if a person can make 100 antibodies to fight the virus this injection would give the person a million antibodies.  He says these antibodies are purified and safe before being injected into a person.  Morris says right now monoclonal antibodies are used to treat the virus but they are considering using this injection to prevent it as well.

Dexamethasone - Dr. Morris says it is a steroid that helps the body decrease or control inflammation.  Morris says this is designed to help limit the damage to the body as it fights the virus.  He says it is a treatment for the severely ill to hold slow down the body's over reaction to the virus.

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Dr. Morris says they also use immunomodulators.  He says they are similar to steroids but more fine tuned.  Morris says their goal is to buffer the response.  He says when COVID gets into the body it can cause damage to the heart, lungs and brain.  Dr. Morris because of this damage it can lead to other treatments.

I asked Dr. Morris if Hydroxycloroquine is used at CentraCare.  He says no but research is still being done on the effectiveness of this as a treatment for COVID-19.  Dr. Morris says research articles he has seen indicated that hydroxycloroquine hasn't helped COVID-19 patients and can cause negative side effects.

If you'd like to listen to my conversation with Dr. Morris about treatments it is available below.

 

 

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