Bangladeshi doctors just identified 'effective' drug combination to treat COVID-19
As the world races to find a vaccine and anti-viral drug to fight the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, a team of doctors from Bangladesh has announced a major breakthrough. They say that they have identified a combination of drugs that are widely available in the market and can effectively treat patients suffering from COVID-19. Here's all you need to know about it.
Combination of Ivermectin and Doxycycline
Led by Dr. Tarek Alam, the head of the medicine department at Bangladesh Medical College Hospital, the team has suggested that a combination of antiprotozoal drug Ivermectin with antibiotic Doxycycline can give miraculous results in curing COVID-19. They said they tried the drugs on active cases of the disease and got 'astounding' results in the research.
Out of 60 patients, all recovered with the drugs
Speaking to PTI, Dr. Alam claimed that they used the combination of drugs on as many as 60 patients and all of them were able to recover. Also, he said, the patients' condition improved within a period of four days, without any side effects. To note, the recovery period with other therapies, including the highly promising Remdesivir, has been around 11-15 days.
Here's what Dr. Alam said about their research
"We first ask them (potential cases) to be tested for COVID-19, and when found coronavirus positive, we apply the drugs...they are recovering within four days. The repeated or second tests [have] reconfirmed them COVID-19 negative in all the cases under the research."
Government regulators informed about the development
Dr. Alam and his team have now reached out to government regulators about the success of these drugs and are also working to get them internationally acknowledged for treating COVID-19 patients. "We are hundred percent hopeful" about the efficacy of the two drugs, Dr. Alam said while noting that they are also preparing a paper to get their treatment method peer-reviewed and published.
So far, COVID-19 has killed 3.15 lakh people
If the treatment method from Dr. Alam and team is proven effective, health-care workers around the world might be able to prevent further fatalities from COVID-19. So far, the disease has sickened over 47 lakh people worldwide, of which nearly 3.15 lakh have passed away. In India alone, the number of COVID-19 infections has closed in on the 1 lakh mark.
