SCI-TECH: COVID-19 THE “PLAGUE”: Day 129: Study finds drug that can kill ‘Covid-19 virus’ in 2 days
PETALING JAYA: In what can be seen as a breakthrough in the battle against Covid-19, a study led by Monash University discovered that there is a readily-available drug that can kill the related virus in just two days.The study found that the existing anti-parasitic drug, Ivermectin, which is available around the world, managed to stop the SARS-CoV-2 virus from growing in cell culture within 48 hours.
“We found that even a single dose could essentially remove all viral ribonucleic acid (or RNA, a nucleic acid present in all living cells) by 48 hours.
“Even at 24 hours, there was a really significant reduction in it,” Dr Kylie Wagstaff, the lead researcher, said in a statement today.
The research was led by Monash’s Biomedicine Discovery Institute (BDI), together with the Peter Doherty Institute of Infection and Immunity (Doherty Institute), a joint venture of the University of Melbourne and Royal Melbourne Hospital.
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Wagstaff noted that the tests conducted so far were done in vitro (conducted outside a living organism) and said trials needed to be carried out in people next.
She, however pointed out that the drug, Ivermectin, is an anti-parasitic drug that has also been shown to be effective in vitro against a broad range of viruses including HIV, Dengue, Influenza and Zika virus.
“Ivermectin is very widely used and seen as a safe drug. We need to figure out now whether the dosage you use humans will be effective – that’s the next step,” she said.
“In times when we’re having a global pandemic and there isn’t an approved treatment, if we had a compound that was already available around the world, then that might help people sooner.
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“Realistically, it’s going to be a while before a vaccine is broadly available.
Although the mechanism by which Ivermectin works on the virus is not known, it is likely, based on its action in other viruses, to works to stop the virus,” she added.
Wagstaff, who began investigating the effectiveness of Ivermectin on SARS-CoV-2 as soon as the pandemic was known, said more funding was urgently required to keep progressing the work.
She added that the use of the drug to combat Covid-19 would depend on the results of further clinical testing and ultimately clinical trials. / AMAR SHAH MOHSEN /
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