Health

COVID-19: Australian Scientists Claim to Have Drug That May Cure Coronavirus

As different medical experts across the globe race to develop a vaccine and/or drug to fight, Australian scientists claim that they have a cure for coronavirus. According to the University of Queensland, two researchers from Australia say that they have found two drugs that can play a vital role in fighting coronavirus. 

The researchers from the University of Queensland, in Brisbane, disclosed that the existing anti-parasitic drugs used for malaria and HIV patients are capable of stopping coronavirus from growing in cell culture within 48 hours. 

The scientists revealed that could immunize against COVID-19 as HIV-suppressing combination ritonavir/ lopinavir and Chloroquine, an anti-malarial drug, both have already shown quite great results in human tests. Also, it has been noticed that both of these drugs made the virus go away in infected patients.

The HIV drug was administered to a few patients who were infected with the coronavirus in Australia. According to David Paterson, an infectious disease physician at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital, the drugs seemed to wipe out the virus in the patients who were infected by COVID-19 and they were completely healed. 

He also added that as one of the medications had been administered to some patients with COVID-19 in Australia and that all signs of the virus “disappeared” and they completely recovered after, this simply means that it’s a potentially effective treatment. He told Australian news site news.com.au, once the therapy is over, the patients would no longer have any viable coronavirus in their system. He further added what’s needed to be done at this point is planning a large clinical trial across the entire country. Also, it is important to compare one drug versus the other and also the combination of the two drugs.

What Initiatives Are Being Taken to Curb the Spread of COVID-19?

The number of people who have been infected due to coronavirus keeps rising. According to Worldometer, around 1,275,135 people have already been infected with the novel COVID-19 across the globe and over 69,502 have died. 

After China successfully managed to control the sudden outbreak of coronavirus, the virus had already spread in other parts of the world. To curb its spread, health officials across the globe requested people to stay at home and self-quarantine themselves. Quarantine is like a dream come true for introverts but extroverts are not really liking it. But, an incredibly amazing Spectrum Select Channel List is something that is keeping them sane during the quarantine. However, locking people inside their houses isn’t the right solution to fight the pandemic. 

Therefore, different drugs are being tested as medical experts and researchers around the world try their best to find a cure or treatment for the deadly virus.

On one hand, self-quarantine is playing an important role in stopping the virus from the spread, while on the other hand, medical researchers are working day and night to find its cure. 

How Will It Work?

Professor David Paterson, the researcher at Queensland, hopes to enroll a large number of people in larger-scale pharmaceutical trials pretty soon. He also said that the drugs may turn out to be an effective ‘cure or treatment’ for wiping out the deadly respiratory infection, but there is not any controlled testing that would be required to test a new drug. 

Professor Paterson further added: “That first wave of Chinese patients we had (in Australia), they all did very, very well when they were treated with the HIV drug”. The anti-HIV drug, the Lopinavir/ritonavir being tested, is usually sold under the name Kaletra. This antiviral medication is most commonly taken by people infected with HIV. It can be taken twice a day to reduce the levels of the virus circulating in the body.

Read Also: Top places to visit in Goa

Often, HIV progresses to AIDS, which is the major cause of death of patients. But with the regular intake of the medication, it is possible to stop HIV progressing to AIDS. This is something that can also result in reducing the risk of people transmitting the infection to others.

The protease inhibitor is a type of drug that is responsible for stopping viruses from using protease which is an enzyme that plays a vital role in helping it spread.

Viruses are unable to make the fully-matured clones without protease. These clones are responsible for infecting other healthy cells. So with no presence of protease, the infection won’t be able to spread.

Kaletra has a great ability to stop a virus from multiplying and infecting new cells that is the primary reason why it is considered to be an effective cure for coronavirus.

Will We Be Able to See Positive Outcome?

Paterson is now aiming to go for a large-scale clinical trial in the country because apparently, the tests and treatments are not being done in a “comparative and controlled manner”. The researchers are now looking forward to the results they will get by comparing one medicine with the other and with the combination of the two. 

The best part is that medical scientists are already aware of the fact that the drugs have no side effects and patients can tolerate them well. About 50 hospitals showed their interest in the clinical test. This simply means that the possibility of successful clinical trials and getting the medicine to the general market could be accelerated.

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Back to top button