Research Department, Kantonal Hospital Saint Gallen, Saint Gallen 9007, Switzerlandresearch iare being ignored.
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2006 / Article , Copyrights ,Open Access
Volume 13 |Article ID 856275 | 8 pages |
Towards a Coronavirus-Based HIV Multigene Vaccine
Klara K. Eriksson,1 Divine Makia,1 Reinhard Maier,1 Burkhard Ludewig,1 and Volker Thiel1
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HIV drugs touted as weapon in war on coronavirus
Issued on: 04/02/2020 - 13:22
Modified: 04/02/2020 - 13:21
As doctors scramble to contain the fast-spreading coronavirus, a potent brew of anti-retroviral and flu drugs has emerged as a possible defence against the disease that has killed hundreds.
But the science is inconclusive on whether they are actually effective, and experts say a specific treatment could take years to develop.
Here is what we know -- and don't know -- about the drugs deployed against the SARS-like virus.
- Why anti-retrovirals? -
Patients diagnosed with the common flu are often prescribed an antiviral drug widely known as Tamiflu.
But seasonal flu is "very different from the Chinese coronavirus", said Sylvie van der Werf at the Paris-based Pasteur Institute.
So far the new coronavirus has infected tens of thousands worldwide and killed more than 420 people, mostly in mainland China.
Two weeks ago Chinese doctors confirmed they had been giving anti-HIV drugs to coronavirus patients in Beijing, based on a 2004 study published after the outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) that showed "favourable" responses.
Used together, lopinavir and ritonavir decrease the amount of HIV cells in a patient's blood, stripping back the virus's ability to reproduce and attack the immune system.
Doctors have also combined the treatment with another anti-flu drug called oseltamivir, hoping the creative cocktail can sap the new coronavirus of its strength.
In Thailand, where there are now 25 confirmed cases, a 71-year-old Chinese patient returned a negative test within 48 hours of being given the three drugs.
But Thai doctors urged caution, saying the medicine needed to be given under supervision due to possible side effects.
- Does it actually work? -
In short, we don't know for sure.
The 2004 study showed anti-retrovirals used on patients with SARS had "substantial clinical benefits", experts in China said.
But random trials on 41 coronavirus patients had "limitations", according to research published in The Lancet on January 24.
Doctors in Singapore -- where there are 24 cases -- have followed suit with the anti-retroviral treatment, said the country's chief health scientist Tan Chorh Chuan, without going into details about the results.
Other studies looked "promising" and a clinical trial has started in Wuhan.
"These agents appear to be effective but we can't be certain at the moment," he said Tuesday.
- What's big pharma doing? -
Biotech firms are working on a suite of treatment options.
California-based Gilead Sciences said they are working with Chinese authorities on clinical trials to determine if remdesivir -- a drug used to treat SARS -- is effective.
Meanwhile three teams around the world -- in China, Australia and the Pasteur Institute in France -- have now succeeded in cultivating the coronavirus in the laboratory.
That could lead to pinpointing its "Achilles' heel" by understanding how it replicates in cells, said Christophe d'Enfert, the institute's scientific director.
- So what should you do? -
How Flu and HIV Meds May Help Fight the New Coronavirus
There’s no cure for the new coronavirus, but physicians still can treat the symptoms. Getty Images
People who’ve contracted the new coronavirus are treated mainly with supportive careTrusted Source, but also medications for the flu and even some for HIV.
Supportive care treats the symptoms — such as fever, cough, vomiting, diarrhea, and fatigue — not the virus itself.
In the United States, there have been 11 cases so far, with the latest infections confirmed Sunday in a University of Massachusetts-Boston student as well as three individuals in California who recently traveled to Wuhan, China.
The transmission of the new coronavirus — which originated in Wuhan, China, in late December — was declared a public health emergency in the United States on Friday.
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