Monday, April 27, 2020

Anti-AIDS and anti-influenza drugs ineffective in treating adult patients with covid symptoms

Reporter : Feng Lifei
Publisher : China Science Daily
Ref : http://news.sciencenet.cn/htmlnews/2020/4/438992.shtm
Translation, editing : Gan Yung Chyan
                                 / KUCINTA SETIA



The anti-AIDS drugs lopinavir / ritonavir (LPV / Kaletra) and the anti-influenza drug arbidol have also recently been used to treat covid caused by SARS-CoV-2 but according to a newly published exploratory randomized controlled study, among adult patients with mild to moderate symptoms of covid, the clinical results were not obvious compared with those receiving supportive therapy. Related research results were published in Med, a journal of Cell Press, on 17 April 2020.

Li Linghua, one of the corresponding authors of this study and the Deputy Director of the Infectious Diseases Center of the Eighth People's Hospital of Guangzhou, said, "We found that neither lopinavir / ritonavir treatment nor abidol treatment improved the patient's clinical outcome. There may also be some side effects. Although the sample size is small, we think this study can still remind everyone that these two drugs should be used more rationally and cautiously in the treatment of covid. "



"The reason why I chose lopinavir / ritonavir and arbidol for research is because these two antiviral drugs are listed as candidates for the treatment of COVID-19 in the "Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia Diagnosis and Treatment Program (Trial Version 6)" on 19 February 2020 and have been supported by clinical data because of the effectiveness of the two drugs in the treatment of SARS and MERS, They have proved effective against SARS-CoV-2 in vitro cell tests.", Li said.

Previous researchers have found that lopinavir / ritonavir failed to improve the prognosis of patients with severe novel coronavirus pneumonia / COVID-19 (covid, in short), and Li Linghua pointed out, "Determine whether lopinavir / ritonavir is effective against covid / COVID -19 in patients with mild to moderate symptoms. If they are effective, it can be used to prevent mild to moderate disease from becoming severe, thereby helping to reduce mortality. "

A total of 86 patients with mild-to-moderate covid participated in this study. Among them, 34 patients were randomly selected to receive lopinavir / ritonavir treatment, 35 were treated with abidol, and the remaining 17 were used as control groups to receive antiviral medication. The clinical results of the three groups of patients were similar on the 7th and 14th days. Among the two groups of antiviral treatment, there was no difference in the fever reduction rate, cough symptom relief rate and chest CT image improvement rate, but these two groups patients had adverse reactions such as diarrhea, nausea, and loss of appetite during the follow-up period, while the control group had no obvious adverse reactions.

Li Linghua said, "This study shows that treatment must be carefully considered before deciding to use these drugs on patients. Researchers should indeed continue to work hard to find a truly effective solution for anti-viral treatment of covid, but before drawing any conclusions, scientific and rigorous clinical trials are required, and due care must be exercised. However, although no special anti-covid drugs have been found, the public / everyone need not panic, as long as strict isolation and good personal hygiene are maintained , we can largely avoid infection with SARS-CoV-2, and even if unfortunately infected, the vast majority of patients can return to health under the current comprehensive treatment. "

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.medj.2020.04.001

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