There are 19 article(s) tagged Dr. Stephen Threlkeld:
Patricia Myles, 49, was breathing on her own after being treated with the experimental drug, remdesivir. She was discharged from Baptist Memorial Hospital-Memphis, 21 days after the intravenous therapy started.
As Memphis sees a spike in coronavirus cases and plans move forward to expand testing, some medical professionals say it's not a great idea because of the risk of false-positive results.
Supply of the experimental drug is so limited, physicians must apply to a committee at Vanderbilt University Medical Center for approval to treat patients who meet specific criteria.
Wearing a mask or facial covering, and whether it should be mandated or suggested, is one of the ongoing debates as people emerge into the public arena as part of the COVID-19 recovery.
FDA cracks down on testing process, says "flexibility never meant we would allow fraud."
Listen as a Memphis infectious disease expert answers readers' questions about the coronavirus pandemic.
The Daily Memphian's Eric Barnes talks to infections disease expert Dr. Stephen Threlkeld about COVID-19 and its impact on Shelby County.
When researchers see a lull in new cases, they look to how well social distancing was going two weeks earlier.
According to data released by Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland late Friday afternoon, 278 patients are in city hospitals — 85 of them in ICU — awaiting a final diagnosis.
Using hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin for COVID-19 is an off-label use, which means the drugs were intended for other uses and are experimental in treatment for the novel coronavirus.
The number of 2,218 tested in Shelby County comes with no details unlike state numbers that reveal testing by types of labs and age ranges. And because it's a total over a period of time in which the response and other measure to the virus have changed, it is still difficult to tell what the number means.
Variance exists in the tests themselves and there is no historical data on the percent of false reads clinicians should expect.
There is no combined count of how many novel coronavirus tests have been performed by the local health department and private hospitals. But the head of the health department says the number of tests isn't as important as the upward climb in those who test positive.
'One piece of good news is that the other coronaviruses that continue to circulate among humans typically cause very mild illness like a common cold.'
Baptist has added a mobile testing unit outside the Emergency Room entrance at its East Memphis hospital.
Testing should increase in the coming weeks, which will give infectious disease experts a better idea of how pervasive the virus is in Memphis-Shelby County.
Early-detection tests have already been produced that could be quickly shipped to state health departments around the nation.
It could take a few weeks to get a read on what the virus is doing, Memphis infectious disease expert Dr. Stephen Threlkeld says.
Travel to China within the last two weeks is still the biggest factor for who may be at risk.
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