Kenya to Treat Covid-19 Patients with Remdesivir After Successful US Trial

Kenya plans to use Remdesivir drug to treat critically ill Covid-19 patients, the Health Ministry has said.

Health Director-General Dr. Patrick Amoth in a media briefing on Saturday, May 2nd, said this follows a successful trial of the drug in the United States. He explained that 330 out of 1,063 Covid-19 patients treated with the drug in the US recovered in a record 11 days.

“A trial of this medicine in treating the coronavirus disease was done in the United States. 1,063 coronavirus patients were trialed with the drug. This was a good trial because the case-load was good, more than 1, 000 people,” said Amoth.

“The primary endpoint was the recovery–either the stoppage of use of supplemental oxygen for critically-ill patients or the time for discharge. During this study, 31 percent (330) of the 1,063 patients were able to go home within 11 days, compared with the other arm of patients who received normal treatment,” he added.

“Based on this, the federal drug authority in the US has decided to register this medicine for the treatment of coronavirus disease.”

But he clarified that it has not been scientifically proven that Remdesivir can cure Covid-19 100 percent.

“The shortcoming of this medication is that it can only be given as an infusion through an injection, so it cannot be administered orally. It is also very expensive.”

“For our Covid-19 cases in Kenya, they are mild ones. The Remdesivir treatment could be deployed but to a small fraction of our patients. We are still continuing to pursue other medications,” he added.

The number of Covid-19 infections in Kenya rose to 435 after 24 additional cases were confirmed on Saturday. The death toll climbed to 22 while the number of recoveries hit 152.