With research continuing on Covid-19 round the clock, scientists are excited to work on preparing a cocktail of multiple drugs to fight Coronavirus.
Development of a drug cocktail first began in 2014 when the Ebola epidemic was at its peak; that work is still ongoing. Many diseases like HIV, Hepatitis C, Tuberculosis are also being targeted already with a combination of drugs therapy, using anywhere between two to three drugs in combination.
The purpose is to hit the virus or bacteria at different stages in its life cycle and hence prevent it from multiplying in the body and causing active infection. The use of multiple drugs is more efficient at solving potential problems arising from the infection. Firstly, it interrupts the life cycle of the bug at various stages and secondly, it also minimizes the chances of getting drug resistant mutants while lowering the doses of the drugs.
Presently scientists are busy preparing such a cocktail of drugs to fight the Coronavirus.
The approach is such that there is either pairing or a combination of two to three drugs, based on various factors. The main objective is to determine how a combination of drugs might be able to block the virus in a cell culture. Cocktail preparers need to figure out what levels of the drug will be in the blood stream and the lungs over time, how quickly the drugs will be absorbed, and how soon they will be out of the system. All these factors help in establishing the dosage and proportion of the drugs combination required to keep the virus from replicating and destroying tissues.
This ongoing research had slowed down due to a lack of funding, which was prioritizing coming out with a vaccine, building up immunity of the population towards herd immunity, and controlling the pandemic, all as fast as possible.
Presently as part of the research on Coronavirus, key information is put in the computer to develop various models for crafting drug cocktails. So far there are 11 families of human viruses that cause serious diseases. Scientists are trying to make ready cocktails to fight all 11 different kinds of human viruses, so anytime a virus starts an epidemic, it can be immediately controlled with its respective defensive cocktail of medicines.
The generic drugs being used in the cocktail have already been approved for use in humans, are inexpensive, are easily available, and can be stored at room temperature. They do not require freezing temperatures like vaccines for transportation or storage.
Moreover, they are all oral medicines and can be used across the world. These are especially beneficial for developing and under-developed countries with low-income groups of people. The medicines can be passed out by any health worker as they do not need specialized and skilled people for administration.
The key to success is to study the effect of the cocktail on cells, especially in lung cells. So far, much work was done in this regard with Hydroxychloroquine and Ivermectin but they do not work in lung cells so studies conducted on them did not really help in the COVID-19 pandemic.
The main goal of an effective anti-COVID-19 cocktail is to suppress the infection in an individual as soon as it appears, stopping its further spread into the population at the earliest possible time and preventing a pandemic.
For now, as work continues on the cocktail preparation, full vaccination is the best remedy for keeping the Coronavirus in check!
Wow, had no idea there were 11 families of human viruses behind all diseases. Your article makes a valid point, getting anti Covid-19 cocktail to poor population areas is the answer to minimize the spread of this pandemic.
Controlling the pandemic remains a priority! Hopefully we are at the tail end.