A new study suggests that a drug used to boost the immune system may help fight off coronavirus infections more efficiently. It fights the virus at its core and it contains a natural immune chemical called interferon beta 1b plus, usually used in combination with an HIV drug.
Patients treated with this combo took seven days to recover from the coronavirus infection. In contrast, the study group that only took the HIV combo drug took 12 days to recover, a report showed. During the recovery process, the virus’ presence was reduced and the symptoms lessened, in the end the patient being discharged.
Other studies revealed that drugs like lopinavir and ritonavir, which also aim to boost HIV-positive patients’ immune systems, did not affect the virus. In this case, the cocktail seems to work for infected individuals in the first cycle of the virus spread, which lasts seven days or less, increasing the rate of recovery.
The drug cocktail did not affect patients that had the virus in their system for longer than that, but even so, we can consider it as being another step in the right direction – fighting the coronavirus infections. The more the virus stays in the human body, the more damage it does, and this is exactly what doctors and scientists are trying to prevent.
The study comes from Hong Kong, where the state ordered infected patients to go to the nearest hospital and stay there until they were free from the virus’ hold, plus two days in isolation for safety.
The pool of 127 people that participated in the study had moderate to mild symptoms; no critical cases were part of the test, and all of the participants fully recovered. It’s important to note that Hong Kong has recorded only four coronavirus deaths as of May 8.
Interferon beta 1b is one of the immune chemicals that the body produces to stimulate immune cells into fighting viruses and infections. SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, contains genes that can thwart the interferon signal.
Providing extra interferon beta 1b may avert major complications, preventing patients from becoming seriously ill. The fact that interferon’s antiviral properties are better known also helps the researchers.
The medication has proven somewhat effective against SARS and MERS in closed laboratory experiments, and several clinical trials are testing various types of interferon, including beta 1b, against COVID-19.
Again, this is only a treatment, not a cure, just like Remdesivir.
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