There are some areas of Eastern North Carolina, including Greenville, that are struggling with high rates of COVID-19 infection as well as low vaccination rates.
East Carolina University health officials, seeing the effects of that combination, are joining a nationwide to see whether a COVID-19 pill can slow the spread of the virus among the unvaccinated. The university of one of several sites around the country testing how effective Merck’s COVID-19 pills are at fighting off the virus.
“The best example of how this medicine could work is to think of it like Tamiflu for influenza," said clinical trial study coordinator Allison Geigel. "We're going to studying whether this drug can be used as a preventative treatment to stop household transmission of COVID-19."
ECU’s infectious diseases clinic started accepting patients into the study in October. The six-month study concludes in March, 2022.
Participants in the study have to be unvaccinated and test negative for coronavirus but be living with someone who's currently infected. The participants will take four pills - twice a day - for five days. Then, for the next four weeks, researchers will monitor whether they end up getting the virus.
“If the unvaccinated person taking the pill gets COVID, that doesn’t necessarily mean the drug didn’t work, because we will be looking at how serious their symptoms are,” said Dr. Paul Cook, the division chief of infectious diseases at ECU. “That includes whether the patient needed to go to the hospital, had a fever, developed respiratory issues. There will be a lot of follow-up over what happens during a 30-day period.”
So, In addition to seeing whether the pill is an effective way to keep coronavirus from spreading from an infected person to a person who is unvaccinated, ECU researchers will also be looking at whether can lessen symptoms of those who get COVID-19.
"We do have a large population that are vaccine-hesitant, so another part of our research will be see if we can reduce the number of folks having to go into the hospital by using a different treatment option," added Geigel.
"This is not a substitute for the vaccine, but I’m optimistic the pill might be able to be used in people who are vaccine-hesitant or immunocompromised and might not develop an immune response," said Cook.
Merck's pills have also been shown to reduce the risk of hospitalization or death from COVID-19 by 50 percent.
"It could be a real game-changer if could send the patient home with a prescription for themselves and their families to keep the person who has already contracted COVID from needing hospitalization and also keep the rest of the household from getting sick in the first place," said Geigel.
Data from ECU’s study, as well as other studies from hospitals across the nation, along with Merck’s research, will be submitted to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.