Suara.com – Researchers report that one of the drugs antidepressant can reduce risk Severe Covid-19 in people who are at high risk of developing the condition.
Trials The antidepressant drug was administered to about 1,500 patients in Brazil. The results showed those on the drug were less likely to develop severe COVID-19 and require hospitalization.
CNN reported that the antidepressant drug was fluvoxamine, which was cheaply priced and readily available everywhere.
Fluvoxamine is a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) that is most often used by patients with obsessive compulsive disorder.OCD and depression.
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“But drugs can affect inflammation,” explains study researcher Angela Reiersen, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Washington, St. Louis.
He explained that these antidepressant drugs can reduce the production of inflammatory molecules called cytokines, which can be triggered by coronavirus infection.
This drug can also reduce blood platelets, which may affect the clotting effect of Covid-19.
Reierson and colleagues gave 741 Covid-19 patients 100 mg of fluvoxamine twice daily for 10 days, while another 756 patients received a placebo.
Among the patients receiving fluvoxamine, only 79 patients (11%) required treatment in the ER or a regular ward in the hospital compared to 16% of patients who received placebo.
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“That’s a 5% reduction in absolute risk and a 32% reduction in relative risk. It’s not a primary drug, but if it can help patients recover more quickly, it would be useful.”
According to Reierson, these findings could influence guidelines on clinical management of Covid-19, given the safety, tolerability, ease of use, low cost, and wide availability of fluvoxamine.
Even so, more research is needed to see if this drug can be added to the treatment of Covid-19 patients, but at a low price.
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