Written By: Longjam Dineshwori | Published : February 10, 2021 3:33 PM IST
Researchers say peginterferon-lambda may also help prevent clinical deterioration and reduce the duration of viral shedding.
Some of the emerging Covid-19 variants are apparently giving scientists and medical professional sleepless nights. While vaccination against Covid-19 is on around the globe in the hope to end the pandemic, some experts have cautioned that the approved vaccines may not be effective against some dominant variants of the virus. For example, a recent study has shown that the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine is less effective against the South Africa variant of COVID-19. And therefore, researchers are also focussing on finding a drug that has the potential of preventing clinical deterioration among COVID-19-infected patients. Luckily, an experimental hepatitis drug has shown promising results in COVID-19 treatment.
COVID-19 patients who were treated with the experimental hepatitis drug called peginterferon-lambda were able to recover from the virus quicker than the placebo group, revealed a study published on 5 February in the Lancet Respiratory Medicine. This drug is typically used in-vitro against hepatitis B and hepatitis C virus.
The study was conducted by a team of researchers from the Toronto Centre for Liver Disease led by Dr Jordan Feld, a liver specialist. They gave 60 COVID-19 patients, who were within seven days of symptoms, either one jab of peginterferon-lambda or a placebo.
One week after the injection, the researchers found that 80 per cent of patients who received the hepatitis drug had undetectable viral loads compared to 63 per cent in the placebo group.
COVID-19 patients who received the injection were also four times more likely to have an undetectable viral load by the seventh day, according to the study.
The hepatitis drug accelerated viral decline in outpatients with mild or moderate COVID-19, particularly in those with high baseline viral load, it noted.
According to the authors, the hepatitis drug peginterferon-lambda may help prevent clinical deterioration and reduce the duration of viral shedding.
Currently, there's no cure for COVID-19, the disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). However, some existing drugs have shown efficacy in treating hospitalised patients with COVID-19 in randomised trials. These include antiviral drug 'remdesivir', anti-inflammatory medication 'dexamethasone', and rheumatoid arthritis drug baricitinib.
In the US, remdesivir was approved for treatment of COVID-19 pateints who are age 12 and older in the hospital. The FDA had also granted an emergency use authorization for baricitinib to treat COVID-19 in some cases. The agency recommended using baricitinib in combination with remdesivir in COVID-19 patients who are on mechanical ventilators or need supplemental oxygen.
Two monoclonal antibody medications bamlanivimab and another a combination of two antibodies called casirivimab and imdevimab were also approved for treatment of mild to moderate COVID-19, particularly in people who are susceptible to serious illness due to the disease under emergency use authorization. Monoclonal antibodies are lab created proteins that help the immune system fight off viruses.
According to the Mayo Clinic, corticosteroid dexamethasone was also recommended for severe COVID-19 patients who require supplemental oxygen or mechanical ventilation.
Convalescent plasma therapy was highly touted as potential treatment for in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. But some studies, including one conducted by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), have shown that it doesn't help reduce Covid-19 mortality or progression.
Antimalarial drugs Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) and chloroquine are two other drugs that were in the headlines as potential COVID-19 treatments. However, health authorities revoked use of the drugs after studies found serious cardiac adverse events and other serious side effects in COVID-19 patients given the drugs.
