COVID-19 trials are still happening, but it's challenging to find participants

As the COVID-19 pandemic is starting to wind down and restrictions are starting to be lifted, COVID-19 medical trials are still underway to help prevent severe and long-term complications following infection. Even with the increasing vaccination rates, many Americans, including children, haven’t gotten the vaccine or have only gotten one of the doses, leaving them highly susceptible to infection. Therefore, doctors like Carolyn Bramante, MD, MPH, Assistant Professor of Medicine and staff member in the Center for Pediatric Obesity Medicine at the University of Minnesota, are still looking for trial participants, specifically those who have had a positive test in the last three days. The current issue is that with fewer infections, there are fewer eligible patients for the studies even though people are still getting sick.

Dr. Bramante’s trial, COVID-Out, started back in March and was the first program worldwide to include pregnant women in the trial. The researchers are testing Metformin, an already-approved diabetes drug, along with two other drugs: Fluvoxamine which is an antidepressant; and Ivermectin, also known as an anti-parasitic medication. Many other countries have shown promising data regarding these drugs, though more research needs to be done. Doctors and researchers want to remind everyone that even though things are returning normal, many are still getting sick and we are only in the early stages in terms of disease and viral progression, so we need to keep acquiring more knowledge. To read the full article and more information on the COVID-Out research study, follow this link.