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Is There a Prescription Drug to Treat Coronavirus?

Is There a Prescription Drug to Treat Coronavirus
10 May 2020

Hospitals and researchers all over the world are testing many different drugs and treatments right now for patients with Coronavirus. While there is no antiviral prescription drug that has been FDA approved specifically to treat Coronavirus, COVID–19, other remedies are being tested at this time to help relieve the symptoms of this virus as well as vaccines and medicines that are currently in trial stages.

Medication for Treating COVID-19

Many different treatment options have been suggested and some already on the market drugs have been seeing positive outcomes to treat symptoms, but there is still a lot of work required and a lot large number are in the works. Like previously mentioned, there are a number of antivirals currently in the trial stages including:

  • Remdesivir: An antiviral still in its experimental stages created by the biotech firm Gilead Sciences. This drug has already been used in China, Italy, and the US but on a very strict basis only on critically ill patients as the drug has not received any approval as of yet. This drug works by affecting a specific part of the virus known as RNA polymerase, which is how the virus replicates itself. While it has been shown to be effective in humans, much more study is still needed.
  • Favipiravir: This drug is designed to shorten the course of the disease running through the body. Clinical trials involving around 300 patients were reported using this drug. Patients given this drug cleared out the virus in just 4 days while those who didn’t receive the drug were sick for 11 days.
  • Kaletra/Aluvia: This is an HIV medication that has been used to treat Coronavirus in China. This was used as an experimental option to treat the virus in its earlier stages but those with severe cases do not seem to benefit from this option and can even cause bad complications if given during certain stages of this illness.
  • Chloroquine/hydrochloroquine: This is a drug normally used to treat malaria but has also recently been used to treat coronavirus as it appeals to be able to block the virus from binding to the cells of the human body and replicating as well as even stimulating the immune system.

Since there is no approved prescription drug remedy for this virus yet, the best thing to do is to take all of the necessary precautions to avoid getting the illness to begin with so that you can protect yourself.  The best way to do that is by:

  • Cleaning your hands often – Wash your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds and use hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol content.
  • Avoid touching your face including the eyes, nose, and mouth.
  • Avoid close contact with people who are sick, at least 6 feet away, and social distancing by staying at home as much as possible.
  • Cover your own coughs and sneezes with the inside of your elbow or with a tissue. Immediately dispose of your tissue in the garbage.
  • Clean and disinfect with bleach or alcohol solutions frequently touched surfaces such as tables, chairs, doorknobs, handles, phones, toilets, faucets, etc.