College Voices
A Possible Drug Treatment for Coronavirus in the Works
The coronavirus has been in the news almost everyday these past few months.
Labeled by the CDC as 2019-nCoV, or Novel Coronavirus, the new coronavirus is closely linked to Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), having mostly like mutated from a virus related to SARS.
Both of these are considered coronaviruses, but they are not the same bacteria that causes 2019-nCoV.
The CDC has issued a statement discouraging travel to China, and to look at travel advisories for other countries. While the disease is curable, it is spreading so fast it is now considered an epidemic. Over 40,000 cases and 900 deaths have been reported in China alone as of February 2nd.
Despite the alarming statistics of this new virus, Doctors in Thailand have had some major breakthroughs in creating a drug treatment for novel coronavirus.
Separate from Mainland China, Thailand has had a total of 19 cases, eight of whom are now considered cured. The other eleven are still receiving treatment
What is the secret to this success?
“A powerful cocktail of drugs“, said the Thai doctors. In severe cases of novel coronavirus, they administer a mixture of the anti-HIV drugs lopinavir and ritonavir and the flu medication oseltamivir.
While doctors stress that this is not a cure, the patients given this treatment have shown considerable improvement in 48 hours.
On the other side of the world, scientists in America have been working on a universal treatment for all iterations of the coronavirus, including MERS and SARS, not just novel coronavirus.
This drug, remdesivir, has been shown to be effective in fighting off MERS and SARS.
Since novel coronavirus is related to SARS, scientists believe that it could be an effective way to fight off the virus. It, however, is still in development.
With all of the fear surrounding the situation, the CDC is very firm in reminding everyone that this is a evolving situation and to check advisories when travelling, as well as see if you are in an area of risk.
As of now, they are of the belief that the novel coronavirus is airborne but spread through close human contact—within six feet of another person.
Even with the possible drug treatments in the works, it is always best to avoid putting yourself at risk of getting sick.
Practice normal precautionary methods for other respiratory diseases—wash your hands, cover your coughs and sneezes, and avoid crowded spaces while ill.