Persistent COVID-19 in an Immunocompromised Patient Temporarily Responsive to Two Courses of Remdesivir Therapy
Marie Helleberg, Carsten Utoft Niemann, Kasper Sommerlund Moestrup, Ole Kirk, Anne‐Mette Lebech, Clifford Lane, Jens Lundgren
Abstract
The antiviral drug remdesivir has been shown clinically effective for treatment of COVID-19. We here demonstrate suppressive but not curative effect of remdesivir in an immunocompromised patient. A man in his fifties treated with chemoimmunotherapy for chronic lymphocytic leukemia experienced a 9-week course of COVID-19 with high fever and severe viral pneumonia. During two 10-day courses of remdesivir starting 24 and 45 days after fever onset, pneumonia and spiking fevers remitted, but relapsed after discontinuation. Kinetics of temperature, C-reactive protein, and lymphocyte counts mirrored the remitting/relapsing SARS-CoV-2 infection. Combination therapy or longer treatment duration may be needed in immunocompromised patients.