Better news today on the number of COVID-19 patients at The University of Kansas Health System. After yesterday’s record high of 39 patients, 30 are being treated for the virus today. 10 patients are in the ICU, down from 11 yesterday. Seven of those ICU patients are on ventilators, down from 8 yesterday. Doctors credit a number of discharges for these lower numbers.
Today’s update focused on the upcoming clinical trial of a COVID-19 vaccine featuring the two principal investigators. They are Mario Castro, M.D., MPH, Vice Chair for Clinical and Translational Research and pulmonologist at the University of Kansas School of Medicine Department of Internal Medicine and Director of Frontiers: University of Kansas Clinical and Translational Science and co- principal investigator Dr. Barbara Pahud (pa HUDE – rhymes with rude), MD., MPH, Research Director of Pediatrics Infectious Diseases at Children’s Mercy and Clinical Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the KU School of Medicine.
Dr. Castro said the trial vaccine is a week or two away from being delivered, and the trial should begin soon after. He says a recent study in Lancet makes him hopeful about its effectiveness. Two of every three participants will get the actual vaccine while the other gets a placebo. He explained why a placebo is important in any study. Participants will get a booster 28 days later. The nationwide study will involve 30,000 people, with 1,250 of them at the KU Medical Center. He outlined two ways to get your name on the list to participate. Reach out to Shelby Almo on the Med Center Campus at salmo@kumc.edu or go online to coronaviruspreventionnetwork.org, and be sure to specify KUMC as the location. He said if you are quarantined because of the virus or have been working from home, you probably won’t qualify for the study. He says even though we’ve all had to alter our lives, this study gives him hope for a return to normal.
Dr. Pahud explained how the vaccine works and described why it’s like a box from Amazon. She said even though it uses a virus found in chimpanzees, it’s very safe for humans. She was very skeptical of the announcement by Russia that it’s skipping the widespread clinical trial, like this one, and giving its test vaccine directly to the public in that country. She says it’s risky before all the data on safety and effectiveness is in and added physicians must establish public health trust. She says we are moving fast with this vaccine because we know from experience how to do it without compromising safety.
Dana Hawkinson, MD, medical director of infection prevention and control at The University of Kansas Health System, agreed that this vaccine is being brought to market a lot quicker than any vaccine ever, but stressed that safety comes first. He said no adverse effects have been reported among the 1,000 people who took part in the first trial. Like the others, he believes we’ll be back to normal after the vaccine takes effect.
Steve Stites, MD, chief medical officer at The University of Kansas Health System, explained it’s been said sometimes research and medicine is 50% science and 50% pep rally. He stressed that today’s update was about hope in the midst of a pandemic. He says, “Hope is on our horizon.”
Wednesday, August 12 at 8:00 a.m. is the next daily briefing call. Sports cardiologist Dr. Tim Beaver teams up with sports neurologist Dr. Michael Rippee to discuss recent concerns around COVID19 causing brain fog and heart damage. Joining them will be Dr. Bruce Toby, chair of Orthopedics and Sports Medicine at The University of Kansas Health System
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