Pensioner couple are Covid trial pioneers

A COUPLE in their 80s who have both beaten coronavirus are taking part in a trial to help other patients.

George Gilbert, 85, and his wife and Domneva, 84, are receiving widely available drugs to see if they will stop people’s immune systems from overreacting to Covid-19.

Experts have found that in some patients the immune system goes into overdrive – destroying healthy cells in the process and causing multiple organ failure and death.

Horrible

George, who has spent 12 days at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridgeshire, said: “Having coronavirus is a horrible experience.

“And to have been so close to death, you appreciate life because you never know when it’s going to end – and I thought that would be my end.”

He and his wife of 64 years are taking part in the Tactic-R trial, which is being run by Cambridge University Hospitals. Lead scientist

Dr Frances Hall said: “When people get sick [with coronavirus], they seem to be getting sick not because of the direct effects of the virus replicating in their cells but because of their own immune response.

“Some people have an immune response that goes over the top and starts attacking their own cells and causing a lot of extra damage.”

Some volunteers taking part in the £200,000 trial are getting their drugs in pill form while others, like George, are on drips.Their blood is being tested regularly to see how their immune systems are reacting.

The first drug is Baricitinib, which is used to treat arthritis and calms part of the body’s immune response by blocking messenger chemicals.

The second medicine is Ravulizumab, which is used to treat a disorder where the immune system kills red blood cells.

If the trial is successful, the drugs will be widely used on severely ill coronavirus patients.