Corona virus treatment: When do we get a drug for the epidemic?

More than 250,000 people have died as a result of the COVID-19 disease caused by the Coronavirus. There are no medicines or drugs yet to help doctors treat the injured.

When will we get drugs that can save patients' lives?

What research is being conducted to find effective treatments?

There are currently more than 150 different drugs being researched around the world, most of which are already used to treat other diseases, to test their potential against the Corona virus.

What types of drugs can provesuccess?

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The search is carried out in three general categories:

What is the most promisingdrug againstcoronavirus?

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The latest clinical trials of remdesivir, which was originally developed to treat people infected with the Ebola virus, have been somewhat encouraging.

The US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) concluded that remdesivir shortens the period during which a patient feels symptoms from 15 to 11 days. And participated in the research conducted by the institute 1,063 people in hospitals in different countries, some of them were given the drug while others were given a placebo.

The director of the institute, Dr. Anthony Fauci, said that remdesivir has "a clear, important and positive effect in shortening the recovery period."

However, despite the possibility that remdesivir could help standardize patients - and perhaps spare patients from entering intensive care units - the tests did not show any indications of its ability to prevent the death of patients with the Corona virus.

It is believed that antiviral drugs are more effective in the early stages of infection, while the effectiveness of immune drugs increases in the later stages.

Remdesivir is one of four drugs in the "solidarity" tests launched by the World Health Organization. The company that produces it, Gilead, is also conducting tests on it.

The American information about the drug Remdesivir was published at the same time that experiments conducted in China – the results of which were published in the “Lancet” medical journal – showed that it was ineffective.

However, the Chinese study was not complete because the success of the closure measures in Wuhan did not leave any patients left for doctors to conduct tests on.

Can HIV drugs be used to treat coronavirus patients?

There has been much talk, but little evidence, that two of the drugs used to treat people with HIV, lopinavir and ritonavir, may be effective in treating coronavirus infection.

While there is ample evidence of their efficacy under laboratory conditions, human testing has been disappointing.

The use of the two drugs did not improve the chances of recovery, did not reduce the incidence of death, and did not lead to a decrease in the percentage of the virus in patients with Covid-19.

However, given that the test was carried out on patients with very serious conditions (about a quarter of them died), the use of the two drugs may have come too late.

Can malaria drugs stop the coronavirus?

Drugs against the malaria parasite are among the drugs in the aforementioned “Solidarity” and “Recovery” tests.

Chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine may have the ability to fight viruses and calm the immune system.

These two drugs have been highlighted as possible treatments for the Corona virus thanks to the allegations made by US President Donald Trump, but there is little evidence of their effectiveness.

Hydroxychloroquine is also used in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis because of its ability to help regulate the immune system.

Laboratory experiments have proven its ability to suppress the Corona virus, and there is undocumented evidence from doctors that it may help in the recovery of Corona virus patients.

However, the World Health Organization says there is no conclusive evidence of its effectiveness.

What about immune drugs?

If the immune system overreacts to the virus, this can lead to infections throughout the body. This may be useful in sharpening the immune system and directing it to fight the virus, but if it exceeds the limit, it may cause many collateral damage and may be fatal.

The "Solidarity" tests include research on interferon beta, which is used in the treatment of people with multiple sclerosis, which has the properties of reducing inflammation. It is mentioned that interferons are a group of chemicals that the body secretes when it is exposed to a viral invasion.

Recovery trials in Britain also include a study of dexamethasone, a type of steroid (such as cortisone) used to reduce inflammation.

Can the blood of survivors be used to treatthose infected with the Corona virus?

Survivors of the disease are supposed to have antibodies in their blood that can attack the virus.

The idea is to take blood plasma (the part that contains antibodies) and inject it into a patient as a treatment for the disease.

The United States has already treated 500 patients with what it calls "convalescent plasma". Other countries followed suit.

How long will it take to get treatment?

It is too early to say when we will have an effective drug for the Corona virus in our hands.

But we will get the first results of the tests in the next few months, that is, before we know the possibility of developing an effective vaccine against the virus (which protects against infection rather than treatment).

This is because doctors are testing existing and proven drugs, while vaccine developers are starting from scratch.

There are a group of new drugs that are resistant to the Corona virus, which are being tested in the laboratory, but they are not ready for human tests.

Whydo we needtreatment?

The obvious reason is that we want to get treatment to save lives, but the other reason is that these drugs may allow some of the lockdown measures to be lifted.

Simply, obtaining an effective treatment will transform the serious disease of the Corona virus into a less severe disease.

If a drug succeeds in sparing hospitalized patients the need to use ventilators, this will eliminate the risk of intensive care units being overwhelmed.

How do doctors treat their patients now?

The symptoms of most people with coronavirus are mild and can be treated with rest, paracetamol and plenty of fluids.

However, some of the injured require more intensive treatment, including giving them oxygen through devices such as ventilators.

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