A new shipment of a drug used to treat some coronavirus patients is now here in Georgia.
We’re talking about remdesivir, the drug that got a lot of attention a few weeks ago. In a recent study, it shortened the duration of the virus in some very sick patients.
This latest shipment includes a form that could be used to help treat children.
The Georgia Department of Public Health says 29 hospitals in the state are getting remdesivir, which is enough to treat about 300 patients.
A spokesperson for the Georgia Department of Public Health says the latest shipment also includes a powder form.
The liquid form isn’t used in kids, but the DPH says the powder can be mixed with the liquid for children based on their weight.
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Dr. Andi Shane, an infectious disease specialist with Children’s Healthcare, says it is difficult to know how well the drug works in children.
She said that is why it is important children are included in clinical trials of the drug.
Channel 2 Action News reached out to a research expert at Georgia State University’s Institute of Biomedical Science to help explain how the drug works.
Dr. Christopher Basler says Remdesivir is designed to prevent the coronavirus from copying its genes and that’s an essential step for the virus to grow.
Clinical trials on the drug are continuing.