The race for a Covid cure is on, and we’ve got our eye on the competitors.
There’s so much info on Covid out there, and wading through the headlines can often feel overwhelming. We’re always keeping tabs on the latest developments and advice — like whether or not you should get a booster shot, what doctors have to say about combatting Covid in states with low vaccination rates, and why parents are enrolling their kids in vaccine trials. As we move into a (hopefully) later stage of the pandemic, our eyes are turning to new methods of fighting the disease.
This cheap medication may spell hope for high-risk patients
An affordable, readily-available antidepressant may decrease the risk of serious Covid-19 by near to a third in high-risk people.
According to a report released on October 27, a trial among around 1,500 patients in Brazil found that those who took the drug — an SSRI called fluvoxamine, sold under the brand name Luvox — were less likely to see the disease progress to a point where they’d require hospitalization.
Merck seeks FDA approval for landmark antiviral pill
Merck announced on October 11 that it’s seeking FDA emergency use authorization to become the first pharmaceutical company to put an antiviral Covid pill on the market. The experimental drug, molnupiravir, has been produced in conjunction with Ridgeback Biotherapeutics, and could prove a turning point in the pandemic as the first take-home treatment for sufferers before they become severely ill.
A preliminary study followed patients with mild-to-moderate Covid-19 with risk factors like obesity or diabetes that put them at a higher risk of becoming seriously ill. Just 7.3 percent of those who took molnupiravir were hospitalized, versus 14.1 percent of those who received a placebo.
Of the 775 patients in the study, eight died — all in the placebo group. The results, which are yet to be peer-reviewed or published, were so strong that the study was stopped early.
A pill to combat Covid? We’re listening…
An international effort to test a new antiviral treatment may result in a pill that can halt the course of Covid. In promising news for those who live with families or housemates, these oral antivirals “also have the potential to limit transmission to people in your household if you are sick,” a virologist who has helped pioneer these therapies told CNN at the end of September.
Miranda and Joe Kelly, a Seattle couple who fell seriously ill with coronavirus in June, agreed to join a clinical trial for the treatment just after they were diagnosed. The treatment plan included a short-term regimen of daily pills that can fight the virus soon after diagnosis, and potentially prevent symptoms from developing following exposure. Though they weren’t told whether they were taking active meds or placebos, the pair reported feeling better within the week, and were recovered within two weeks.
At least three hopeful antiviral treatments for Covid are being tested at the moment, with results expected as soon as late fall or winter. Watch this space…
