The doctor shared news about medications to treat the coronavirus: some knowledge is encouraging

Several studies have recently been conducted, the information of which shows the benefits of medications.

“The patients who are most severely affected have pneumonia, which in some patients is complicated by a cytokine storm, thrombotic angiopathy and multiple organ failure. With intensive treatment, the patient recovers and some patients unfortunately die, – he said the head of processes at VUL Santara clinics COVID-19 Prof. Laimonas Griškevičius.

“The course of the disease is different, so treatment may vary from phase to phase: antiviral medications, antibodies may be required in earlier phases, and medications that suppress cytokine storms or thrombian angiopathy may be necessary at a later stage. “

One of the drugs that scientists and doctors expect is to regress.

“It is an antiviral medication that prevents the virus from replicating (usually Delphi). It has extensive antiviral activity and was developed to fight the Ebola virus, and much research is now underway on COVID-19 infection,” said the professor. L. Griškevičius.

Positive results are also reported by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in the United States. In this large study involving 1,063 patients, remdesivir was compared with placebo randomly and blindly.

“The patients were treated with varying degrees of severity, with pneumonia, and some patients needed oxygen. Remdesivir was statistically significant in 31% of the patients. accelerated recovery of COVID-19, said prof. L. Griškevičius. – Unfortunately, remdesivir did not statistically significantly reduce COVID-19 mortality, although a certain trend of decreasing deaths was observed in the remdesivir arm. No fully published survey data yet. “

An article was published in The Lancet reviewing a study of 237 patients with COVID-19 in central Wuhan, China.

“The scientific publication of this study on severe COVID-19 infection was published on Wednesday. Remdesivir was randomized to placebo. Unfortunately, the study did not show a positive effect of the medicine: there was no acceleration in the recovery of COVID-19, no rate of disappearance of the virus, and no reduction in mortality. Admittedly, the study ended prematurely because the outbreak in China ended and patients were excluded from the study. As a result, the statistical power of the study to detect differences between remdesivir and placebo was greatly reduced, “said the professor. L. Griškevičius.

A doctor at the Santara clinics also said the results of a small study in France, a drug that inhibits cytokine interleukin 6, which is used at a later stage in COVID-19 when cytokine storms were already occurring, some time ago. days.

“The study included 127 patients with severe moderate COVID-19 infection. In one randomized trial, one part received placebo and the other interleukin-6 inhibitor tocilizumab. The drug said the drug reduced both mortality and the need for interventions to maintain life. I would like to emphasize that the results of this available have not yet been officially announced, therefore they should be considered preliminary and evaluated with great caution, “said the professor. L. Griškevičius.

Tocilizumab is commonly used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, some other rheumatic diseases, and cytokine storms caused by cell therapy.

About 20 percent of COVID-19 patients have a severe form of the disease, and about 5 percent of patients are seriously ill. Patients receive symptomatic treatment since there are currently no approved medications for COVID-19. To discover an effective method of treatment, the World Health Organization (WHO) has launched an international Solidarity Study, which is also joined by Lithuanian doctors.

“The WHO Solidarity Study will look at four treatments: the antiviral drug remdesivir, the current rheumatic drug hydroxychloroquine, and the combination of anti-HIV drugs lopinavir and ritonavir,” said the professor. Laimonas Griškevičius.