China.- The Chinese government says it has officially decided to use the anti-influenza drug Avigan developed in Japan to treat people infected with the new coronavirus.
Zhang Xinmin, director of the National Center for Biotechnology Development, said at a press conference in Beijing on Tuesday that the drug was found effective in clinical trials by two medical organizations in the country.
The director said the tests were carried out in the cities of Wuhan and Shenzhen and involved 240 patients and 80 patients respectively.
He said tests in Wuhan found that it took an average of 2.5 days for the temperature of those who received Avigan to return to normal. It took 4.2 days for those who did not receive the drug.
He added that patients who received the medication were able to get rid of the cough in an average of 4.57 days, compared with 5.98 days for those who did not receive it. He added that the medicine had no obvious side effects.
AFP
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In tests in Shenzhen, the director said those who were given the drug after testing positive for the virus turned negative after a median of four days, while it took a median of 11 days for those without the drug.
The trial also found that X-ray photos confirmed improvements in lung conditions in about 91 percent of patients who received the drug. The number stood at 62 percent for those who were not given.
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