UPMC Presbyterian only hospital in Western Pa. to get 1st shipment of remdesivir covid-19 med
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UPMC Presbyterian hospital in Pittsburgh will be the only hospital in Western Pennsylvania to receive dosages of an antiviral medicine that is being used to treat the symptoms of patients with covid-19, the state Department of Health said Tuesday night.
The health department stated it will distribute the first shipment of 1,200 does of remdesivir, an investigational antiviral medication, to 51 hospitals in the next few days. UPMC will receive 18 dosages in the first shipment. The health department sent most of the medication to hospitals in the Philadelphia region and central Pennsylvania, where there are far more covid-19 cases.
Health Department Secretary Rachel Levine noted in a statement there is limited information on the safety and effectiveness of using remdesivir to treat patients with covid-19. But it has been shown in a clinical trial to shorten the recovery time in some people, which is why the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized the emergency use of the medication for treatment, Levine said.
Those hospitals receiving the medicine were determined based on the number of covid-19 patients at the hospital over a recent seven-day period and the severity of the illness of those patients, based on whether they are on a ventilator.
The health department said it will continue to get more doses of this medication. It does not charge the hospitals for the medication.
UPMC had an average of 16 covid-19 patients over a seven-day period, and an average of 10 were on ventilators over the same period.
Remdesivir is given to a patient through an IV once per day for up to 10 days, depending on how critically ill the patient is. The FDA said the medication may help decrease the amount of coronavirus in the body, which may help the patient get better faster.
As of Tuesday morning, there were just under 58,000 positive cases of covid-19 cases in the state and 3,806 confirmed deaths. Most of the patients hospitalized are 65 or older, and most of the deaths have occurred in patients 65 or older.
In Allegheny County as of Tuesday, there were more than 1,500 confirmed or probable covid-19 cases, 280 hospitalizations since mid-March and 127 confirmed deaths from the virus.