Drugs in India to fight Covid

Subject: Science and tech

Concept:

Remdesivir

Remdesivir, an antiviral drug first developed for treating Ebola in 2014, is one of the possible Covid-19 treatments being investigated in the WHO’s Solidarity Trial.
It inhibits viral replication in the body.

Favipiravir

Tocilizumab

This is an immunosuppressant commonly used to treat for rheumatoid arthritis.
In Mumbai, more than 100 severely ill Covid patients have been treated with this expensive drug (Rs 40,000-60,000 per dose) as a preventive against ventilator requirement

Hydroxychloroquine

This antimalarial drug is a subject of debate over its efficacy against Covid.
The WHO halted its HCQ arm in the Solidarity Trial following a study in The Lancet, then reinstated it after a retraction by the authors.
India is the largest producer of this drug. Doctors use HCQ use in Covid patients with symptoms as mild as headache, fever, body pain, and even in critically ill patients. ICMR guidelines recommend low doses for nine days.

Doxycycline + ivermectin

Doxycycline is an antibiotic used to fight infection in the urinary tract, eye, or respiratory tract.
Ivermectin is an anti-parasite drug for treatment of scabies, head lice, and filariasis.
The combination is used to treat Covid patients with acute symptoms.

Ritonavir + lopinavir

Plasma therapy

This is meant for critical patients with low oxygen saturation levels, or those suffering a cytokine storm.
Patients who have recovered from severe Covid-19 donate their plasma, which is then injected into other critical patients to boost their immunity.
A protocol approved by ICMR is used to select which patient is best suited for plasma therapy. Preference is given to those at risk of cytokine storm, extreme breathlessness with severe pneumonia.