With several parts of the world reeling under preventive and precautionary lockdown, doctors, healthcare professionals, scientists, researchers, virologists, epidemiologist all are busy trying hard to find out a concrete solution to this global crisis.
There are reports of various drugs being used to treat high risks patients. According to a report published in the Global Times, China has administered as many as 30 drugs including the Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) on patients, and it was claimed by the Chinese authorities that TCM was found to be 97.78 per cent effective, After being administered TCM, none of the cases turned from mild to severe or critical. This report is based on the study of 1261 patients from 10 provinces in China.
Interferon Alfa 2B human recombinant developed in 1986 has benefitted the patients who have been suffering from hepatitis B&C, HIV, dengue, and has been into the Cuban national health system for a while. It is one of the drugs currently being used to combat Covid-19. The reason for its high success rate is due to the fact that the virus generally decreases the natural production of interferon in human body, and Alpha 2B is capable of replenishing the deficiency and strengthening the immune system.
Kaletra, an anti-HIV drug is also being tried on the patients in China as a possible thereby. Meanwhile, Chinese government claims to have successfully contained Covid -19 in the country, and has sent teams of medical professionals with medical aid and expertise in handling the rouge virus as diplomatic measures to Italy and Iran.
Kaletra a combination of two anti-HIV drugs, namely, lopinavir and ritonavir, is being used in China from January 18. The same combination of drugs combines with swine flu and Malaria drugs were used by Indian doctors in Jaipur to treat an Italian couple. ICMR too has published it as one of the treatments used in severe Covid-19 cases.
The recent ground reports from South Korea and China highlight Chloroquine as an effective antiviral therapeutic treatment against COVID-19. Its use is showing favourable outcome with faster recovery. Chloroquine is an inexpensive globally available drug that has been around since 1945, used against malaria, autoimmune disorder and various other conditions. Recently, US president Donald Trump touted it as one of the potential lines of treatment of Covid -19. It is a prescription drug in USA.
Although, there is currently no approved treatment for Covid -19, researchers and experts are developing numerous ways to use the existing drugs as potential treatments of COVID-19.
Arturo Casadevall of John Hopkins University is trying to revive “passive antibody therapy. He believes that this decades-old approach could help fight SARS-CoV-2 infections. It involves collecting antibodies from the blood of people who have recovered from COVID-19.
“Passive antibody therapy” was used as early as the 1930s, and its premise is simple.
The antibodies in the blood serum have ability to bind and neutralise SARs CoV -2 that causes Covid -19. It’s also called passive antibody treatment. This is yet in the nascent phase.
Although, these drugs and line of treatments offer short term or medium-term solution or a temporary treatment, a vaccine would be a concrete preventive treatment. The first vaccine trial has already begun in USA. The health officials have estimated a duration of 12-18 months to determine its efficacy.
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