Medical experts explain the potential treatments for Covid-19

How is Covid-19 treated at NHS hospitals now?

“The problem is that there are no authorised treatments, or any for which there is clear evidence of both efficacy and safety specifically authorised to treat Covid-19,” says Professor Stephen Evans. Oxygen with antibiotics to stop secondary infections is being used. If patients deteriorate they are put on a ventilator. Additional treatments are given only if the patient is enrolled on a programme such as Recovery, the national randomised trial. The latest drug to be trialled on this scheme is anti-inflammatory arthritis medicine tocilizumab.

Do we need new treatments before we can end lockdown?

“Vaccines are much more important, but treatments which reduce the severity of the illness could mitigate the consequences of infection sufficiently to allow for gradual relaxing of restrictions.” SE

What is being developed?

“More than 100 medicines are being studied around the world. The World Health Organization has started a trial to investigate four potential treatments: remdesivir, chloroquine/hydroxychloroquine; lopinavir and ritonavir (kaletra); and lopinavir and ritonavir plus interferon-beta. Kaletra is a combination of two antiviral drugs — lopinavir and ritonavir — normally used to treat HIV. Lopinavir was identified as a potential treatment for Sars in 2003 but convincing evidence of its effect is lacking. Remdesivir, which is expected to inhibit viral replication, is being investigated as a potential treatment in clinical trials. There is no evidence that interferon-beta is effective in the management of Covid-19. There is growing evidence chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine are ineffective.” JA

Can we learn anything from those who have had Covid?

“Usually disease survivors’ plasma contain antibodies to that disease. This can be effective as a treatment in patients suffering from the condition and the NHS is asking some people who have recovered from Covid-19 to donate blood so they can potentially assess the therapy in trials. ” SE

From Professor Stephen Evans, professor of pharmacoepidemiology, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and Dr Jeffrey K Aronson, consultant physician and clinical pharmacologist at University of Oxford, as told to Samuel Fishwick