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Brazilian scientists will evaluate, in 500 patients, a medicine, almost without side effects, with an efficiency of 94% in cells infected by new coronavirus. The information was disclosed yesterday by the Minister of Science, Technology, Innovation and Communications, Marcos Pontes, who promised results in a month. However, the experts considered the disclosure to be hasty and alarming. For some, it was cinematic and an “emotional misappropriation.”
According to the minister, the country also develops artificial intelligence equipment to evaluate suspected Covid-19 people. The answer in one minute, and the test uses national reagents. “Vaccines take longer than repositioning drugs, but we are working on a dual vaccine for influenza and Covid,” he said. “Only science can fight the virus,” said Pontes.
Minister Marcos Pontes did not reveal the name of the remedy for “there will be no rush” for the purchases. This is because it is a known drug, widely available in the market, according to Marcelo Morales, secretary of Training Policies and Strategic Actions of the Ministry of Science, Technology, Innovation and Communications (MCTIC). “We will have in our hands, developed in Brazil, at most, in mid-May, the solution of a treatment, with available medications,” Pontes said. The drug even has a pediatric formulation, he added.
The remedy will be tested on 500 patients in seven hospitals, five in Rio de Janeiro, one in So Paulo and the other in Braslia. The medication will be administered daily for five days, with an additional nine days of observation.
“In 14 days, we will be able to see if the effects on the patients will be the same as those already proven on the infected cells,” the minister said. The clinical trial will be conducted with hospitalized patients to control symptoms and viral load.
According to the MCTIC, the protocol will be a random administration, that is, neither the doctors nor the patients will know who is taking the drug and who is receiving placebos. “I want to thank the ethics committee of the Ministry of Health, which approved the protocol for clinical tests. In the coming weeks, we will have the results, ”said Pontes.
Yesterday, the Minister of Health, Luiz Henrique Mandetta, said yesterday, at the press conference, that Pontes’ team tests a vermfuge against Covid-19. The statement was made when Mandetta cited ongoing studies of the disease, including chloroquine. He noted that chloroquine proved to be interesting in vitro, with the possibility of killing the coronavirus, but the result is not sustained when the substance is tested in humans, according to research. Also, he amended, the dewormer would have shown promise in the laboratory and will now be tried in patients with Covid-19.
Negative impact
For Alexandre Cunha, an infectious disease doctor, what the government did was “no information.” “Science does not reveal secret things. And in vitro research, anything can work. If you add alcohol, it will kill 100% of the virus. Making something work for people is something else ”, he summarized.
According to infectious disease specialist Julival Ribeiro, it is very strange that the ministry says it has an alternative with 94% efficiency and does not reveal the name of the molecule or the drug. “Everyone studies chloroquine or ivermectin (a vermifuge and antiparasitic). But clinical studies are necessary, “said the doctor. According to the expert, the minister’s explanation of not revealing the name to avoid running to pharmacies is not justified. “Anvisa could do what she did with chloroquine and allow it to be sold only with a special recipe. I can’t say it’s 94% effective without clinical testing, “he said. He also does not believe in the possibility of a double vaccine against influenza and Covid-19. “Flu shot, one thing, for Covid-19 another, completely different.”
In the opinion of Professor Jos David Urbaez, scientific director of the Federal District SBI, the announcement by MCTIC was irresponsible. “A construction to justify a measure that will kill many people, which will loosen the isolation.” The expert regretted that the government is promoting what he called an emotional embezzlement. “A moment of gigantic collective vulnerability. And the government publishes false news by announcing a miracle drug. In science, there is rigor. Jama (Journal of America Medical Association) reviewed all medications and ongoing trials without any evidence to make treatment recommendations, “he said. Urbaez also believes that the unidentified medication may be ivermectin.
