Various types of covid treatment

Experts around the world are trying to make breakthroughs to find the best treatment for COVID-19 patients. Trials of various alternative treatments were carried out in conjunction with research to see which methods were most effective in dealing with COVID-19 patients. Which treatments have been proven effective?

What medications are used to treat COVID-19 patients?

Treatment of COVID-19 with interferon beta has failed

The protein interferon beta was initially believed to reduce the severity of symptoms in COVID-19 patients. Interferon beta is a protein naturally formed by the immune system to fight viral or bacterial infections. Patients who cannot produce sufficient amounts of interferon beta are susceptible to lung damage caused by viral infections.

In a small clinical trial, inhaled interferon beta reduced the risk of severe respiratory symptoms in hospitalized COVID-19 patients. Patients treated with interferon beta also had twice the chance of a full recovery during the 16-day treatment period.

The promising capabilities of interferon beta therapy are being reviewed in larger trials.

Experts from Oxford University, UK, together with several research institutions in the world form a clinical trial team on several COVID-19 treatments including Remdesivir, Hydroxychloroquine, Lopinavir (combination dose of Ritonavir), and beta interferon.

The result was that beta interferon which was injected directly into COVID-19 patients did not show any significant benefit. Including the other 3 drugs, none of them was effective in reducing the number of patient deaths, reducing the number of patients needing a ventilator, or reducing the number of hospital admissions.

"Remdesivir, Hydroxychloroquine, Lopinavir, and Interferon appear to have little or no effect in hospitalized COVID-19 patients," write the investigators.

The results of this large-scale clinical trial have been published in the journal MedRxiv on Thursday (15/10). The New England Journal of Medicine after going through peer review.

"We are eager to have effective treatment for COVID-19 patients. But it's better to know whether a drug is really effective or not than not to know and keep using it, ”said Soumya Swaminathan, one of the researchers who is also the chief scientist at WHO.

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Remdesivir

The results of a recent clinical trial conducted in conjunction with the interferon beta clinical trial suggest that remdesivir has no significant effect in hospitalized COVID-19 patients.

Experts say this fact makes them disappointed, given that previous small-scale studies have shown promising benefits.

Remdesivir was initially tested in China at the start of the pandemic, but was discontinued because the cases of transmission were under control and there were not enough patients to study. A follow-up clinical trial conducted in the US has shown promising results because it has seen a reduction in the number of patients hospitalized.

But a large clinical trial recently completed has shown remdesivir to be ineffective for the treatment of COVID-19 patients.

Tocilizumab

Tocilizumab is a drug used to treat arthritis. This drug also works to block the inflammatory protein (Interleukin-6) that is released in excess.

Studies on the impact of tocilizumab on COVID-19 show mixed results. Some experts argue that tocilizumab reduces hospitalizations needing a ventilator, and reduces patient mortality. Other studies have shown that the drug has no effect in the treatment of COVID-19 patients.

However, the two studies were both conducted on a small scale.

One large observational study found positive effects, but other factors (such as age differences, comorbidities, and other treatments) could influence treatment outcomes.

Therefore, a bigger and stronger study is still needed for Tocilizumab for treatment in COVID-19 patients.

The patient's blood plasma is healed (Convalescent Plasma)

Treatment of COVID-19 using blood plasma from recovered patients is one of the experts' considerations.

When a person recovers from COVID-19, the immune system will usually form antibodies that can fight the disease. Blood plasma containing these antibodies is transfused into COVID-19 patients. This method is intended to provide direct protection to recipients who have not been able to grow their own antibodies naturally.

However, there is no strong evidence that blood plasma can treat patients infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19. Besides this method also has side effects that can cause severe allergies.