Henry Ford Allegiance Health COVID-19 Update for April 1, 2020

(April 1, 2020 2:10 PM) Physicians treating patients with COVID-19 at Henry Ford Allegiance Health are turning to a drug called hydroxychloroquine as part of their treatment strategy.

Hydroxychloroquine (also known as Plaquenil or hydroxychloroquine sulfate) is an arthritis medicine that also can be used to prevent malaria. This past weekend, the Food and Drug Administration granted “emergency use authorization” for hydroxychloroquine to be used in the treatment of COVID-19.

“All patients with COVID-19 who are sick enough to be admitted to our hospital are receiving a standard five-day course of hydroxychloroquine,” said Vivek Kak, MD, Medical Director for Infectious Disease at Henry Ford Allegiance Health. “This is part of a well-defined protocol that was developed by a multi-disciplinary team of critical care physicians and nurses, pharmacists and infectious disease specialists.”

In addition to using hydroxychloroquine to treat patients with confirmed cases of COVID-19, the hospital is also administering the drug to some “persons under investigation” who meet criteria and are believed to have COVID-19 but are awaiting lab result confirmation.

“We are seeing encouraging results from this protocol,” added Dr. Kak. “In some cases, we are seeing sick patients coming off ventilators, which makes us guardedly optimistic this intervention will reduce severity of the sickness, and in some cases, save lives.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), hydroxychloroquine has been known to cause cardiotoxicity with prolonged use in patients with hepatic or renal dysfunction and immunosuppression but has been reportedly well-tolerated in COVID-19 patients.

Individuals who may have been exposed to COVID-19 and/or have mild symptoms are advised to stay home and avoid going out in public. Mild symptoms are fever, cough, shortness of breath, muscle aches and/or fatigue. For anyone who has these symptoms, Henry Ford Allegiance Health advises you to call the MyCare Advice Line for screening, at (313) 874-7500.

For your safety and the safety of others, Henry Ford is asking community members to avoid going to one of their facilities unannounced, including walk-in clinics and the emergency department. Instead, patients are instructed to call ahead.

If symptoms worsen to include high fever and/or rapid breathing, individuals should call 9-1-1 and alert the operator of their exposure so the EMS crew can prepare for proper transport and limit exposure to others from being infected.

As of 11 a.m. on Wednesday, April 1, Henry Ford Allegiance Health was treating 23 inpatients in their hospital who tested positive for COVID-19. Test results are pending on another five patients who are being treated as “persons under investigation,” and are being cared for on isolated units in the hospital to prevent the potential spread of COVID-19 to other patients.

As of this morning, four positive COVID-19 inpatients at Henry Ford Allegiance Health have fully recovered and were discharged to return home, free of any symptoms or concern of spreading the illness to others.

The latest county numbers are posted at 12 p.m. each day to the Jackson County Health Department website.

Any community members wanting to encourage health care workers and COVID-19 patients at Henry Ford Allegiance Health are encouraged to use the Well Wishes feature on the health system’s website.

“I am touched by the kindness of our community members—who are showing their support through messages of encouragement, producing supplies, offers to volunteer, and making supply and monetary donations,” said Henry Ford Allegiance Health president and CEO Paula Autry. “In these uncertain times, I want to reassure those in our region that Henry Ford Allegiance Health is prepared to care for the communities we serve.”