Tocilizumab in Severe Covid-19 Infection, Early Experiences at a Community Hospital

The COVID-19 global pandemic has resulted in more than 118 million cases and more than 2.5 million deaths. Most fatalities are related to severe pulmonary disease caused by a severe inflammatory response to the virus in the lungs. As yet there is no uniformly successful therapeutic agent. Tocilizumab is a monoclonal antibody that binds to IL-6 receptor thus inhibiting IL-6 mediated signaling of the inflammatory cascade. Early trials did not show a mortality benefit in patients treated with this agent. Newer studies have shown a benefit when Tocilizumab is used in conjunction with corticosteroids. This is a brief report on 7 patients with severe COVID-19 infection who received Tocilizumab therapy at our community hospital in the early period of the pandemic.