If these new medications have to be given early at the onset of the infection this defeats the purpose to some extent! Since 60-95% of infected experience no or only mild symptoms it would not make much sense to provide them with those new, possibly expensive medications.
Some more fine tuning and more innovative medications are needed, but SARS-CoV-2/Covid-19 is essentially under control given the available vaccines and medications. Let's finally and fast return to normal life before the pandemic!
"... Because antiviral drugs often need to be given early in the course of an infection for them to work effectively, Mellors will also be looking for more detail about when the drugs were given in the trials, and at how those timings correlated with efficacy. That information will provide a sense of when the window of opportunity for treatment closes. ...
Researchers are also keen for any clue — including from further clinical trials — as to whether the drugs affect transmission of the coronavirus, or prevent illness in people who have been exposed to it. ...
Paxlovid acts by inhibiting an enzyme that’s needed to process some viral proteins into their final, functional form. But the drug is a combination of an antiviral and another drug, called ritonavir, which helps to prevent enzymes in the liver from breaking down the antiviral before it has a chance to disable the coronavirus. Ritonavir, a component of some HIV treatment cocktails, can affect how some other medications are metabolized by the body. A wide range of drugs should not be given with it, including some that are commonly used to treat heart conditions, suppress the immune system and reduce pain. ...
The targets of molnupiravir and Paxlovid are different, but researchers will still need to show that the drugs work against variants ..."
Researchers are also keen for any clue — including from further clinical trials — as to whether the drugs affect transmission of the coronavirus, or prevent illness in people who have been exposed to it. ...
Molnupiravir acts by introducing mutations into the viral genome during viral replication. A metabolite of the drug is picked up by a viral enzyme called RNA-dependent RNA polymerase and incorporated into the viral genome, eventually causing so many errors that the virus can no longer survive.
Human cells have a DNA, rather than an RNA, genome, but some laboratory experiments have suggested that molnupiravir could cause mutations in human DNA as well.
A full course of treatment with molnupiravir is only five days long. ...Paxlovid acts by inhibiting an enzyme that’s needed to process some viral proteins into their final, functional form. But the drug is a combination of an antiviral and another drug, called ritonavir, which helps to prevent enzymes in the liver from breaking down the antiviral before it has a chance to disable the coronavirus. Ritonavir, a component of some HIV treatment cocktails, can affect how some other medications are metabolized by the body. A wide range of drugs should not be given with it, including some that are commonly used to treat heart conditions, suppress the immune system and reduce pain. ...
The targets of molnupiravir and Paxlovid are different, but researchers will still need to show that the drugs work against variants ..."
No comments:
Post a Comment