With new approaches against Coronavirus, doctors express 'glimmers of hope'

Those on the frontline in the battle against coronavirus are expressing "glimmers of hope" as far as the treatment of COVID-19 patients is concerned.

The Washington Post reported that they have "devised a toolbox, albeit a limited and imperfect one, of drugs and therapies many believe give today's patients a better shot at survival than those who came only a few weeks before".

The report while noting that these are not therapies proved to kill or stop the virus, stated that they "range from protocols to diagnose and treat dangerous, but sometimes invisible, breathing problems that can be an early warning of covid-19 in some people, to efforts to reduce the illness's severity or length".

The treatment options include blood plasma of covid-19 survivors; drugs to suppress the body's own immune response; anticoagulants, which decrease the risk of deadly clots, and antivirals like remdesivir which was recently approved by US Food and Drug Administration for emergency use.

Jose Pascual, a critical care doctor at the University of Pennsylva Health System, while recalling the earlier days when each new day brought bizarre new complications of the coronavirus that defied textbook treatments, said: "We were flying blind. There is nothing more disturbing for me as a doctor."

"Things changed almost completely, from knowing nothing at all and going on hearsay from Milan, Seoul and Wuhan -- to saying, 'Well, this is something we know we can do,'" Pascual was quoted as saying by Washington Post.

Yogen Kanthi, an assistant professor of cardiology at the University of Michigan, and his rheumatology colleagues who focus on immune issues are launching a study that will look at various combinations of anti-inflammatory drugs and blood thinners to find out whether they work better together, as well as their optimal timing, dosage and mix, the report in Washington Post said.

According to a study published in The Lancet last week, three antiviral drugs -- separately used to treat HIV, hepatitis C and multiple sclerosis -- seemed to expedite the recovery in some patients.

According to Pauscal, one of the challenges to therapies for the deadly virus is that the havoc cause by it seems to last a long time - even up to six weeks in some cases.

The Washington Post report said "critically ill patients may need many different treatments in that period to stay alive -- blood pressure medications for the heart, dialysis for their kidneys, ventilators for breathing."

"The reassuring thing is this virus, like others, eventually burns out. In the end, it's a waiting game," said Pascual.

( With inputs from ANI )