They think it’s all over.....

If there was ever a phrase more ingrained into the British psyche than, “They think it’s all over....it is now.” I can’t think of what it might be. It was our moment of glory. We won something against the Germans.

The sports commentator said it as a warning. The time wasn’t up. The Germans could still win and then something happened and they couldn’t. (You can probably tell that I’m never going to be a football commentator).

Yesterday, the Prime Minister appeared on the briefing, full of bumbling excitement. He was supremely pleased with himself. He’d brought the scientists back to give the good news.

We’ve found a drug that works.

I watched and shouted at my family, “They think it’s all over.”

A sense of unease crept over me, worsening  the longer the scientist spoke. I was confused about my reaction because I’m normally such a Pollyanna.

Professor Horby, the head of the RECOVERY (Randomised Evaluation of COVid-19 thERapY - oh don’t you love how scientists have fun?) explained.

“We’ve looked at the numbers and if we treat eight patients in intensive care with this drug we will save one life.”

What? My anxiety chip started to flash.
One in eight! That means that if you get to intensive care then even with this drug you have a 7/8 chance of dying. That’s a lot worse than I thought it was. I thought it was less than flu, where about 50% survived but I thought about a third survived. Why didn’t they tell us this at the beginning when they wanted us to be scared? How can they be saving it as good news? Oh, my goodness, I’m never going out again, it’s all too risky.

It was a weird moment for me because I’m not normally anxious about dying. Normally, surviving mechanical ventilation and having to live a reduced life afterwards would be my worst fear.

A journalist asked the question on everyone’s lips. Something like, “Now we have this drug does that mean it’s all over.”
The Prime Minister looked pleased and tossed his blond locks aside making positive noises before he was interrupted by Sir Patrick Vallance, who pointed out that it doesn’t stop you catching the virus, or even stop you getting to intensive care, it just stops one in eight dying once they get there. 

I was so confused.
“It must be saving one in eight of those who would have died,” my daughter suggested, “But how do they know who would have died?”
I looked up a more scientific piece of writing https://www.nihr.ac.uk/news/first-drug-to-reduce-mortality-in-hospitalised-patients-with-respiratory-complications-of-covid-19-found/25061
My daughter was right. Mortality on mechanical ventilators was 41% without the drug and a third less died who were given the drug.  I’m still not sure where the one in eight comes from but it might be an averaged out improvement amongst all the people they tried it on.

So now they know that they need to give everyone in ITU with COVID-19 this drug. That’s good news. I understand why the scientists are happy. They also found out that Hydroxochloroquinine is not effective in ITU patients. That will save the NHS a bit of money. Give the cheap drugs that work and let Donald Trump have the expensive ons for himself. I can definitely see why they are happy.

But there was still a nagging doubt. 

It was the drug itself. 

There was a little voice in the back of my head saying, “Surely, they’ve been giving this drug anyway?”
People in hospital are given drugs. Lots of them. No one would lie in hospital on mechanical ventilation without being pumped full of steroids and antibiotics. Those drugs might change if they weren’t working but they might not. 

I’ve heard of Dexamethasone. It took me back to the elephant wars, when my mum was being treated for cancer. I expect it was the mention of this drug that had triggered my anxiety and made me want to simultaneously hide under a blanket and run away. 

Dexamethasone is a drug they give to cancer patients to combat nausea. My mum loved it. It was the only thing that made her feel good. It gave her energy and allowed her to have a life. Everyone called it Dexy.

I love the fact that Dexy is being used to fight the Corona Eileen virus. It feels as though we have come full circle and are back to the beginning, where we are allowed to do everything except have fun.

Maybe they could discover a Geno therapy that stops the vulnerable catching it and we could have fun back.