Multinational scholars join forces to fight the epidemic situation of new coronary pneumonia

  "I think tocilizumab is an important adjuvant therapy for severe neopneumonia, but it is unclear how to control the dose to achieve the best effect." said Nilary Shahr, a scholar at the National Cancer Institute.

  "This drug has produced excellent results and is now used in Italy and around the world, and more and more patients have benefited from it," said Paul Asiardo, professor at the National Cancer Center in Naples, Italy.

  The above experts discussed the treatment plan for the use of tocilizumab for the treatment of severe new coronary pneumonia, which was first proposed by researchers at the University of Science and Technology of China. Recently, the "Chinese-American Italian New Coronary Pneumonia Clinical Experience Exchange Conference" was held here every week. It was held at 0:00 on the 4th, Beijing time, 12:00 on the 3rd, New York time, and 18:00 on the 3rd, Rome time, attracting dozens of international scholars to participate. This treatment plan has been extended to more than 20 countries around the world and is widely shared by the international academic community.

Encouraging domestic applications

  "On January 29, Xu Xiaoling called me and said that there is a new patient with a new coronary pneumonia. The immune cell content in the blood drops suddenly for unknown reasons," Wei Haiming, a professor and immunologist at the University of Science and Technology of China, recalled.

  Xu Xiaoling is the deputy director of the First Affiliated Hospital of the University of Science and Technology of China and an expert in respiratory diseases. The next day, the Wei Haiming team moved the experimental instrument to the hospital and worked with Xu Xiaoling's team on an urgent task.

  With the foundation of immunology research in the past 20 years, they have made a new discovery after conducting 30 tests and analysis on 33 severe and critically ill patients: some of the new crown patients suddenly become worse, which is the "inflammatory storm" formed by the overreaction of the human immune system. Caused by.

  "When the new corona virus invades, the immune cells of the whole body gather in the lungs and "throw bombs" at the virus. The virus is "blasted" to death, but the lung tissue is also messy, causing the patient to have difficulty breathing and death of many organs." Wei Haiming said that they further found that the Swiss drug Roche used for rheumatic diseases tocilizumab is expected to block the formation of "inflammatory storm", to gain time for conventional treatment.

  Tocilizumab plus conventional treatment, this is the basic outline of "China University of Science and Technology treatment plan". The therapy has been explored in Fuyang, Hefei and other places in Anhui since February 5, and the effect is encouraging. After 18 patients with severe and 3 critically ill patients were treated with this therapy, their body temperature dropped to normal within 24 hours, and their respiratory function and oxygenation index improved. The average time from medication to cure and discharge was 13 days. None died.

  "The biggest feeling is that the temperature drops quickly." Han Mingfeng, president of the Second People's Hospital of Fuyang City, said that the hospital treated 7 severely ill patients, 5 cases had a fever the next day, and 2 cases had a low fever. The body temperature returned to normal after an additional medication.

  On March 3, tocilizumab-related therapies were included in China's "New Coronavirus Pneumonia Diagnosis and Treatment Program (Trial Version 7)". In Wuhan, the therapy is used to treat more than 500 patients, and the overall effect is good.

  On May 19, the "Chinese University of Science and Technology Treatment Program" for the treatment of severe patients with new coronary pneumonia was published in the "Journal of the National Academy of Sciences".

Multinational scholars share the Chinese University of Science and Technology program

  The epidemic has gradually been brought under control in China, but it has developed rapidly in some overseas countries. In Italy, Paul Assiardo, a professor at the National Cancer Center of Naples, is also studying immunotherapy. He notices the progress of the research and practice of the Chinese team.

  Asierdo said: "We contacted our Chinese counterparts and found this to be a good idea." On the morning of the second conversation with the Chinese counterparts, he and his colleagues decided to use tocilizumab to treat 2 critically ill patients , The condition of one of the patients was greatly improved within 24 hours.

  On March 11, the National Cancer Center of Naples signed an agreement with the University of Science and Technology of China to collaborate on the treatment of new coronary pneumonia.

  "We tell them the technical details without reservation." Professor Fu Binqing, a member of the relevant team of the University of Science and Technology of China, said that Chinese researchers have taken a few steps in this regard and should support everyone to go down this path together and treat more people.

  "Academic exchanges across borders are very important. Thanks to the online platform, everything can be done in real time." said Lu Qiu Miguierdo, the director of the pulmonary department of a hospital in Venice, Italy. He treated about 25 patients and achieved more than 70% of the results. good.

  In mid-to-late March, Xu Xiaoling, Wang Dongsheng, and Li Ming of the Chinese University of Science and Technology went to Italy and Iran to assist in epidemic prevention and control. In Italy, the Chinese expert group held 25 exchange meetings, held 21 training sessions, and trained 17,278 person-times. In Iran, more than 50 patients with new crowns have achieved good results after using the "Chinese University of Science and Technology Treatment Program".

  From April 1, Chinese, American, and Italian scholars spontaneously held the "Chinese-American Italian New Coronary Pneumonia Clinical Experience Exchange Telephone Conference", which is held once a week and has been held 9 times so far, specifically discussing "Chinese University of Science and Technology Immunotherapy", sharing treatment, Research progress.

  "The various medical institutions should work together to have more research samples in order to better analyze the efficacy." Jason Goldman, a scholar at the University of Washington in the United States, said.

  According to incomplete statistics, as of now, the "Chinese University of Science and Technology Treatment Program" has been extended to more than 20 countries including Italy, Iran, the United States, and India. According to a survey conducted by the international medical data collection company SERMO to 33,700 doctors worldwide, as of May 7, about 25% of doctors have used tocilizumab to treat new coronary pneumonia. To further validate the therapy, more than 50 research groups in the United States, Italy and other countries have launched relevant clinical trials.

  "From the Spring Festival to the present, we have been doing our best to do two things, one is scientific research, and the other is promotion and communication." Fu Binqing said, the team communicates with colleagues around the world through email, WeChat, telephone, video conference every day. Due to the time difference, meeting in the middle of the night and replying to emails are the norm. Foreign colleagues are also very tired, but everyone insists on researching and discussing this therapy.

  "Our thinking is the same, science and technology must play a role when the crisis comes, and contribute to the construction of a human health and health community."

(Participating reporters: Xu Haitao, Chen Nuo, Liu Fangqiang, Li Jie, Xingyue, Wang Zichen, Federico Grandeso) (Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, June 7th)