RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Currently, there are no approved treatments or vaccines for Covid-19, a disease caused by the novel coronavirus that has killed over 440,000 people worldwide. In Brazil there are now over 45,000 victims.
However, up to the start of June, there were 153 drugs and vaccines being tested in 1,765 trials with patients who contracted Covid-19. But the majority of these drugs are still in their early stages of research. Among the most advanced studies are the antimalarial chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine, although results are not very encouraging. The drugs have been shown to be poorly effective in treating the disease.
“Unlike chloroquine, dexamethasone is a drug with biological plausibility to be used as an adjuvant in the treatment of Covid-19. The results reported show a significant decrease in mortality. However, for this drug to be as effective in real life as it was in the scientific study, it requires high-quality intensive care in our ICUs. “The basics need to be well done so that dexamethasone can actually save one-third of patients under treatment,” said Ricardo Schnekenberg, a physician and researcher who has been following clinical studies against the disease.
Another drug that draws attention is the antiviral remivir, originally used to treat Ebola. A preliminary study published on May 22nd in the New England Journal showed that the recovery time in hospitalized patients with coronavirus was shorter (11 days) for those who were given the drug compared to patients who were given a placebo (15 days). Mortality was lower, albeit not significantly.
Tocilizumab, which prevents the so-called inflammatory storm, also stands out, but the study conducted with the drug to date has had few patients. Brazil is also testing the drug.
Source: O Estado de S. Paulo