Keep on studying

It’s going to take more than a cram session

SCIENTISTS around the world are working overtime, trying to learn as much as they can about covid-19. Their goal: To save as many lives as possible. But as somebody once said recently: Once you’ve seen one pandemic . . . you’ve seen one pandemic.

There is no telling about these things. They are as unpredictable as anything in medicine. Science gives mankind the best answers through hypotheses and observation.

But that process is never perfect. (And never will be.)

You may have heard of a medication making the rounds right now as hospitals work to help all those people fighting covid-19. It’s called remdesivir. The president was treated with it when he was hospitalized.

Like some other treatments for covid-19, it’s still considered an experimental drug—meaning, it’s not as available as Tylenol and vitamin C. Doctors are still learning how it works, if it works. And a new study shows it may not be the most valuable tool in our arsenal.

“A large study led by the World Health Organization suggests that the antiviral drug remdesivir did not help hospitalized covid-19 patients. The

WHO study involved more than 11,000 patients in 30 countries. About 2,750 were randomly assigned to get remdesivir. Death rates after 28 days, the need for breathing machines, and time in the hospital were relatively similar for those given remdesivir versus usual care,” the papers say.

These results are confusing, given that they contrast with an earlier study showing remdesivir did help patients. Dr. Andre Kalil, an infectious disease specialist from the University of Nebraska who helped lead a U.S. remdesivir study, has problems with this newest study, calling it “poorly designed.”

Of course, the team behind the WHO study stands by its work. Who wouldn’t? It probably involved hundreds of people and thousands of hours.

So who are you supposed to believe? How do you tell which study is right? You’re not going to like the answer, but it’s going to take more study. That’s how science works. It’s full of people trying things over and over again, seeing if something new happens.

So keep at it, y’all. The world is counting on better, more reliable answers. And only scientists are going to figure it out.