New Delhi: Low-cost drugs that are usually used to treat depression and obsessive compulsive disorders have been found useful in reducing with the three risk of prolonged hospitalization from Covid-19 patients.
A study published in the Lancet Global Health named this drug as fluvoxamine, which was given to 741 Covid patients in Brazil as part of a randomized trial to investigate the efficacy of eight treatments that were resembled back for infection.
The eight treatment trial began in June 2020, with the Fluvoxamine section starting in January 2021 in Brazilian adults who were symptomatic, positively tested Covid-19, was not vaccinated and had at least one additional criteria for high risk.
The researchers said 741 participants were given 100 mg of fluvoxamine twice a day for 10 days while 756 others received placebo.
Four weeks later, when data on hospitalization between the two groups was analyzed, it was found that from 741 who received drugs, 79 (11%) needed a period of more than six hours in emergency or inpatient arrangements.
Conversely, 119 (16%) of 756 participants who received placebo needed a similar stay in hospital settings.
These results indicate a reduction in risk of prolonged hospitalization or emergency care at 5% of participants with a relatively 32% risk reduction, the researchers claim.
Although mortality is not the main result of this study, in the analysis of the secondary “per protocol” of patients who took at least 80% of drug doses, there was one death in the fluvoxamine group compared to 12 in the placebo group.
“Our results are consistent with the trials early, smaller.
Given the safety of fluvoxamine, tolerability, ease of use, low cost, and broad availability, these findings may have an important influence on national and international guidelines about covid clinical management,” Dr.
Gilmar Reis, Medical stretchers, told medical journals.
Dr.
Shamsher Dwedee, Director, Clinical Services, Vimhans, said the research structure was strong but too early to say whether the drug was a modifier of the game in Covid Management.
“This might be a promising start but still not Eureka’s moment,” he said.
Dwedee said monoclonal antibodies developed for covid remained the most promising drug so far.
Recently, the World Health Organization included this in its latest guidelines to treat covid patients with mild and severe symptoms.
Monoclonal antibodies are used to treat former US President Donald Trump.