Written By: Longjam Dineshwori | Updated : November 15, 2020 9:39 AM IST
Polymerise chain reaction (PCR) and antibody testing are the two most common methods used to screen people for COVID-19 infection.
The novel coronavirus, the virus that is responsible for the ongoing pandemic, affects different people in different ways. While most infected people develop mild to moderate illness and recover without hospitalization, COVID-19 causes more severe symptoms in some patients. Doctors also warn that a person may have mild symptoms for a few days, then quickly escalate to serious, possibly life-threatening symptoms. How should you do to prevent severe COVID-19 symptoms and hospitalisation? Antidepressant drug fluvoxamine may help, suggest researchers at the Washington University School of Medicine.
Fluvoxamine belongs to a class of drugs called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) that interact with the sigma-1 protein in the body and help reduce inflammation. It is generally used to treat anxiety, depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). This drug has been found to help reduce inflammation and sepsis in animals by blocking IL-6, a pro-inflammatory cytokine.
Unregulated inflammation and cytokine storms (a severe immune reaction in which the body releases too many cytokines into the blood too quickly) are thought to be the possible causes of mortality in severe COVID-19 patients.
The Washington University researchers conducted a randomised clinical trial that included 152 COVID-19 outpatients (those trying to recover at home) with mild to moderate disease in the St Louis metropolitan area. All the patients with an average age of 46 years were confirmed to have COVID-19 between April 10 and August 5, 2020. They all had an oxygen saturation of at least 92 percent or more.
As part of the trial, one group (80 patients) were given 100 g fluvoxamine and other group (72 patients) a placebo thrice a day for 15 days. Interestingly, none of the participants in the fluvoxamine group reported clinical deterioration while six out of 72 patients in the placebo group showed deterioration of symptoms.
The findings, which were published in the journal JAMA, suggest that fluvoxamine may be effective in preventing severe COVID-19 symptoms and hospitalisation. However, the authors cautioned that more and larger studies are needed to confirm these findings. They plan to begin large-scale studies soon and include patients from all over the country.
In the absence of a cure or vaccine, scientists have been testing the efficacy of the existing drugs on COVID-19 patients. Favipiravir (initially designed to treat the Japanese flu) and remdesivir (developed to fight Ebola) have been allowed to treat COVID-19 patients under emergency use authorisation in some countries, including India.
Steroids like dexamethasone, anti-inflammatory aspirin and antidepressant drug duloxetine are also claimed to be effective in the management of COVID-19.
COVID-19 symptoms may vary from person to person and some people infected with the virus may show no symptoms at all. The most common symptoms include fever, body ache, dry cough, fatigue, chills, headache, sore throat, loss of appetite, and loss of smell. Some people may suffer more severe symptoms like high fever, severe cough, and shortness of breath, which often indicates pneumonia and require hospitalisation.
Some people with COVID-19 also experience neurological symptoms, gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms, or both. Neurological symptoms seen in COVID-19 patients include loss of smell and taste, muscle weakness, tingling or numbness in the hands and feet, dizziness, confusion, delirium, seizures, and stroke. People infected with the novel coronavirus also reported gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms, such as loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal pain or discomfort. These symptoms may occur with or without respiratory symptoms.
Older adults and people with certain underlying medical conditions are known to be at increased risk of serious COVID-19. Having said so, the virus can also make younger people sick enough to require hospitalization.
Therefore, people of any age should take preventive health measures like frequent hand washing, physical distancing, and wearing a mask when going out in public. Not only this will help protect yourself, but to reduce the chances of spreading the infection to others.
