The Role of Tocilizumab in Treatment of a Patient with COVID-19: a Case Report

SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by a new discovered Coronavirus. Most people infected with the COVID-19 virus recover without special treatment and experience mild to moderate respiratory disease. In the elderly and people with underlying diseases such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, chronic respiratory disease and cancer, there is a higher risk of developing the severe form of the disease. So far, no specific drug has been found to prevent or treat COVID-19. A 52-years old diabetic man with COVID- 19 was admitted to Ayatollah Rouhani Hospital Babol, Iran. After 12 days of hospitalization and treatment, with respiratory distress and oxygen saturation level to 60%, he was transferred to the intensive care unit. After receiving a 400 mg dose of actemra or tocilizumab, the patient became severely dehydrated and the oxygen saturation level reached over 90% within a few hours, and 8 days after receiving tocilizumzb (TCZ; Actemra), the patient was suffering from complications of pneumonia. So far, there have been reports of improvement in patients with Coronavirus (COVID-19) with severe actemra or tocilizumab. Typically the COVID-19 virus appears to be able to be cause the over-immune reaction and typically the cytokine storm, which often includes IL-6, therefor may be IL-6 antagonist improves patients’s condition.