SCIO briefing on frontline medical workers' expertise on COVID-19 treatment
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E-mail China.org.cn, March 7, 2020
China Daily:
A question from China Daily. Considering the declining trend of new cases and the rising numbers of recovered patients in China are positive signs, what can China share with the world in terms of fighting the coronavirus? And currently, what can China do to help the international community contain the epidemic? Thank you.
Du Bin:
Thank you very much again for your question. It actually reminds me of a message sent to me by one of my high school classmates earlier today, which was a quotation from a French novel named La Peste, or The Plague, by a French novelist whose name is Albert Camus back in the 1940s. During conversation or discussion with a journalist, the leading character in the novel Dr. Rieux, said it's nothing about heroism, but honesty. With that in my mind, the only approach, the only way or the only weapon to fight against the plague is honesty. This can be defined as doing your job.
Doing your job might mean different things. From the government’s point of view, it means to share detailed information of newly identified cases and suspected cases with the general public; to educate the general public about the disease and how to prevent it; and to coordinate or to organize all the resources, including human resources and all other equipment and devices that are necessary for treating or preventing the disease. Doing your job, from a physician’s point of view, means to try our best to make the correct diagnosis and to treat patients in the correct way in order to save their lives. Doing your job, from the general public’s point of view, means to comply with the professional guidance, such as: to stay at home to self-quarantine if you are a close contact, to obey all the regulations and rules set by not only the government, but also the health care professionals in order to control the epidemic. It is my belief that the combination of all these efforts from all aspects is crucial to the successful control of the epidemic, not only in China, but also across the whole world. Thank you very much.
Cao Bin:
Thank you for your question. I think that the Chinese clinicians have confidence in sharing our latest clinical research data with the international society. As all of you know the WHO R&D Blueprint, the priority of anti-viral therapeutics. On the list, there are three priorities: First is remdesivir; second is lopinavir; and third is the monoclonal antibody to this new coronavirus. Chinese doctors are leading the top-two priority antivirals.
I believe that the whole international society, including the WHO, is eager to know the results of the clinical trials in the Chinese mainland. The good news is that the first trial – the lopinavir clinical trial – has finished. Chinese doctors will share the new results with the WHO and the international society as soon as possible.
There are two remdesivir trials – remdesivir-1 and remdesivir-2. In remdesivir-1, we include those with mild to moderate pneumonia cases. And in remdesivir-2, we enrolled the severe and critical pneumonia cases. It seems that both trials are progressing successfully. As soon as we have finished the trials, we will very happily share the data with the international society.
I believe that the clinical trials are a great contribution by Chinese doctors to the international community. Thank you.
Qiao Jie:
Okay, just a few words because time is limited. Thank you for the question. Professors Du Bin and Cao Bin already mentioned the key points. I’d just like to add one because big data sharing is also very important, given the different kinds of patients and limited numbers.
One example is pregnant women, which is my field. Until now, we have gradually accumulated a hundred cases. Now we can see the good news that pregnant women are usually mild cases if without complications like pregnancy-induced hypertension. Another good news is neonatal throat swabs are negative, so there is no evidence for mother-to-baby vertical transmission. But, we also have a few neonatal infections because of close contact with infected relatives. So, we also need to isolate newborns for two weeks for safety concerns. I believe that as more and more cases accumulate and we analyze the cases, more evidence can show us how to treat and also give the right recommendations and suggestions for the patients. We cooperate together, then the fight will be a success.
Xi Yanchun:
Lastly, Professor Li, please.
Li Haichao:
I think we are facing a situation similar to 17 years ago. It (SARS) is also a virus infection without effective anti-virus drugs, without vaccine. So, the old methods are very useful: such as keeping strict isolation when the community epidemic occurred. You must set up methods to cut down transmissions. You must decrease the total number of patients, because if the number is too large, that means there are a lot of ill patients. That means you may have higher mortality. And also, if there are too many patients, I think centralized management for these patients is useful, because you must keep the patients in the area — you can make a close observation of the patients and identify the severe and very severe patients in time, then to pick up them and to treat. That’s my suggestion. Thank you.
Xi Yanchun:
Okay, great. Thanks again.
Finally, I'd like to say that we need to be aware that the situation in China remains complicated. We will work relentlessly to consolidate our current results. We are confident that we can and will win the fight. On the other hand, the coronavirus is now becoming a common challenge facing all mankind all around the world.
While fighting the epidemic at home, China will continue to strengthen cooperation with the international community to jointly respond and play an active role in the global fight against the epidemic. Today, our four professors shared and introduced much professional and valuable advice.
Thanks again to all of you for taking time to join us during your very intense work in Wuhan, and also take care of yourself.
Thanks, and thank you all. That's the end of the briefing. Thanks.
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