HEALTH

First COVID-19 patient treated with remdesivir in Shelby County is discharged from hospital

Corinne S Kennedy Desiree Stennett
Memphis Commercial Appeal

The last thing Patricia Myles remembers before waking up at Baptist Memorial Hospital-Memphis was washing her hands more often than usual.

She felt like she was doing what she could to prevent getting COVID-19 but on May 12, she was hospitalized. On Thursday, she was discharged to a thunder of cheers from dozens of nurses, doctors and other hospital staff. 

“I want people to know that this coronavirus is real,” said Myles, 49, of Clarksdale, Mississippi. “They got to take precautions and make sure they do everything they can not to get this virus because it's real out here… It’s dangerous out here. Some people not making it and by the grace of God and Baptist Hospital I did.”

Background:Woman with COVID-19 receives experimental drug Remdesivir in Memphis

More:'We’re getting too excited too soon': Doctors, researchers warn remdesivir not COVID-19 cure

Patricia Myles, 49, was the first COVID-19 patient in Shelby County to be treated with remdesivir. She was discharged from the hospital Thursday.

Myles was the first COVID-19 patient to be treated with the drug remdesivir in Shelby County, said Dr. Steve Threlkeld, co-chair of the infection control program at the hospital.

Threlkeld said she was one of the most severe cases of the virus the hospital has seen. Myles was taken off a ventilator last week and moved out of the intensive care unit earlier this week, Threlkeld said.

“We are pleased with her progress and we certainly wish her well,” he said.

Threlkeld said she was a great person from a great family who was very popular among hospital staff.

He said Myles received several types of treatment, including remdesivir, after she arrived at Baptist. While her condition improved after starting a 10-day course of remdesivir on May 15, Threlkeld said her recovery cannot be directly attributed to the drug, as she was receiving several types of treatments concurrently, including antibody therapy and the drug tocilizumab.

"It would be difficult obviously to tease out which of those interventions" was most impactful, he said. "It doesn't matter thankfully. What matters most is what happens to the patient."

Related:Memphis-area hospitals adjust to COVID-19 challenges, while more uncertainty looms

Local news:Shelby County health official alarmed by recent spike in COVID-19 cases

Doctors and nurses wear full-protective masks and face shields as they work with COVID-19 positive patients Baptist Memorial Hospital-Memphis on Thursday, May 14, 2020.

Myles cautioned people to wash their hands, wear masks and do anything else they could to keep themselves healthy.

“To go home is beautiful,” Myles said. “I want to get home and watch 'Wheel of Fortune.'”

While Myles is healthy enough to go home where she will undergo physical therapy, she will continue to have weekly appointments at Baptist to monitor her progress.

Promising, but still under study

Clinical trials have shown the drug can help shorten the duration of the illness but that there is no statistically significant decrease in mortality rates between COVID-19 patients who receive remdesivir and those who do not. The median time for recovery for patients who received the drug in the trial was 11 days compared to 15 days for those who received a placebo. 

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the drug for use on May 1.

Dr. Stephen Threlkeld, infectious disease specialist and co-director of Baptist Memphis' infection prevention program, dons a protective layer to visit a patient who is presumed, based on current symptoms, to be COVID-19 positive.

Despite promising early results, doctors and researchers have warned that the drug is not a panacea and is not the solution to COVID-19. Threlkeld has said that antibody therapy — also still being researched for COVID-19 patients — has produced the best results so far, but that remdesivir seemed to be the most effective drug currently available. 

Baptist has started at least three other COVID-19 patients on a course of remdesivir, Threlkeld said. 

Dr. Kamlendra Singh, an associate research professor of molecular microbiology and immunology at the University of Missouri School of Medicine, published a paper looking at the effectiveness of remdesivir and three other anti-viral drugs on COVID-19 in a laboratory setting.

Dr. Stephen Threlkeld, infectious disease specialist at Baptist Memphis’ infection prevention program, prepares to remove his protective gear after checking on a patient with COVID-19 at the hospital on Thursday, May 14, 2020. Nurse Kristin Quinn on the other side of the door wears protective gear as well. In a juggling act of sanitizing and applying and removing protective gear, layers are shed while still in infected patient's room, to avoid wearing them into the common area.

He said the drug did slow the replication of the virus in the lab setting, but that it did not stop replication altogether. He expressed cautious optimism about the drug but said much more research needed to be done.

“My honest opinion is that we’re getting too excited too soon, but I’d be the happiest person if it works,” Singh said in a previous interview with The Commercial Appeal. 

Corinne Kennedy is a reporter for The Commercial Appeal. She can be reached via email at Corinne.Kennedy@CommercialAppeal.com or on Twitter @CorinneSKennedy