A commonly prescribed pill – approved by the Food and Drug Administration more than 13 years ago for depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder – shows initial success in preventing people infected with COVID-19 from developing severe symptoms and being admitted to hospital word.
The drug Fluvoxamine, sold under the brand name Luvox, appears to prevent inflammation in the lungs of people infected with COVID-19, which can be fatal.
“What we observed was that of all the patients who received Fluvoxamine, none of them had a serious COVID infection that affected their lungs or their respiratory status,” said Dr. Caline Mattar, a researcher on infectious diseases at Washington University in St. Louis. Louis said. did an initial trial of the drug last fall.
Now the University of Washington, along with Northwestern University, the University of Minnesota, the University of Washington and the University of Utah, are conducting a larger trial of Fluvoxamine, which gives the drug to patients for two weeks.
“I feel much better: I have not had a fever; I have not had any chills yet; the dullness has disappeared,” said Eduardo Veliz of Los Angeles, who tested positive for COVID-19 earlier this month, and agreed. to be part of the larger Fluvoxamine trial.
Veliz told the I-Team he started to feel much better after five days in the trial. “My taste came back,” Veliz said.
Fluvoxamine – which costs about $ 10 for a two-week supply – recently showed real results in preventing serious COVID diseases.
Last November at the Golden Gate Fields Racecourse in Berkeley, 200 workers tested positive for COVID-19. The doctor’s physician, David Seftel, read about the initial success of Fluvoxamine and presented it to the infected workers.
On Monday, dr. Seftel published the promising results of his treatment in the journal Oxford Academic. Sixty-five workers took Fluvoxamine for two weeks, and no one developed severe COVID-19 symptoms, and no one had to be hospitalized.
But of the 48 employees who refused the drug, 60% developed symptoms and 12.5% had to be admitted to hospital.
Some elderly people have received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine, but many are worried about getting a second dose on time. Joel Grover reported on Tuesday, January 26, 2021 on NBC4 News.
According to researchers, there are major benefits to testing existing FDA-approved drugs on COVID patients, also known as drug reuse.
“They have been around for some time, we know they are safe, they are available, they tend to be relatively cheaper,” said Dr. Mattar told Washington University.
Critical care physicians treating COVID patients are excited about the prospect of having more medicines that can keep people out of congested hospitals.
“I’m hopefully optimistic about Fluvoxamine … it should now be passed on to larger patients in larger trials,” said Dr. Raj Dasgupta said at USC’s Keck Hospital.
Real patients, like Eduardo Veliz of Los Angeles, are also optimistic, though he is not sure if he is taking Fluvoxamine or the placebo given to some participants in the trial.
“Whatever I take, it has helped me,” Veliz told the I-Team.
“Our goal is to help patients who are initially good enough to be at home and to prevent them from getting sick to be admitted to the hospital,” said Dr. Mattar told NBC4.
COVID patients who want to be part of the larger Fluvoxamine trial can learn more at StopCovidTrial.wustl.edu