From herd immunity, plasma therapy, vaccines and drugs for COVID-19!
In light of the worrying rise in SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19 or the new Coronavirus) worldwide, the worst affected country, the US, has a second wave and in India, Brazil and others, infections continue Endlessly, the desperation for treatment measures is growing all the time. In addition, the World Health Organization (WHO) has consistently maintained that the possibility of having a vaccine is at least a year and a half away. The WHO has also maintained that so far there is no proven cure for COVID-19. The basic reason that justifies such kind of desperation is that this virus is much more dangerous than recent viruses, its mortality rate is almost 10 times higher than those. The virus has wreaked havoc on planet Earth before humans understood and knew much about it. Therefore, various topics related to herd immunity, plasma therapy, vaccine development and the use of repurposed medicines are being continuously discussed and experimented around the world.
The term “herd immunity” basically means that if the majority of the population becomes immune to a particular infectious disease, it will get indirect protection than those who are not immune to it. For example, if 80% of the population gets immunity, four out of five people will not get sick despite coming into contact with infected people. At least 70 to 90% immunity will be required for effective herd immunity that can keep the virus in check. Problems arise when it comes to how to achieve this herd immunity. There are two ways to achieve herd immunity: if precautions and social norms are not strictly followed, a large part of the population is likely to be infected, and if it is at least 70%, the population can gain herd immunity, and, second, simply through the development of a vaccine. In the first case, the cost of a large number of people becoming infected will be very high and high in terms of loss of life. In India and other populous countries, large numbers of population are susceptible or exposed to the virus, and to achieve herd immunity through the former way is not advisable at all. Therefore, the only way to achieve this would be through a developed vaccine, and until it is ready for mass use, infections must be kept under control by imposing strict social distancing and other norms.
Plasma therapy has emerged as a very positive development for the treatment of severe COVID-19 patients, in which the blood plasma of recovered coronavirus patients is injected and the antibodies it contains that help cure them are injected. In India, this therapy is being practiced with good results; Plasma banks are being established in Delhi, Haryana and Maharashtra, among others, with requests for recovered patients to donate plasma. In fact, the Delhi Health Minister who became seriously ill from COVID-19 finally recovered with this therapy.
The WHO has stipulated very strict procedures for the development of COVID vaccines: the vaccine produced must go through three rigorous phases of clinical trials with increasing numbers of human volunteers receiving doses before being declared safe for use, which would take several months. apart from the necessary months. for mass manufacturing and distribution. There are currently around 100 candidate vaccines worldwide, including seven companies from India, some of which have already been approved for human clinical trials: the Oxford vaccine developed in the UK, currently in the third phase of test; CureVac from Germany Approved for Clinical Trials; a Russian COVID vaccine claims to have successfully completed all three phases of the human trial and is now ready for mass production and at least two vaccines in trials in India with Bharat Biotech’s first Indian Covaxin candidate vaccine gaining Controller approval Medicines General of India (DCGI) for human trials. In fact, the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR), the main medical body, created a controversy recently by ordering interested parties to accelerate the use of Covaxin so that it is ready for mass use before August 15, 2020, which was quickly rejected by the Government of India. It should be emphasized here that even if a vaccine is finally approved for mass use, its effectiveness will remain under a scan, because each vaccine mutates frequently and therefore there is no guarantee that a vaccinated person will not contract COVID-19 for possibly a year. or more.
As an integral part of the desperate search for COVID cures or treatments, various repurposed drugs have been continuously tested to treat the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Hydroxychloroquine, a drug used successfully to treat malaria in India, was first tested in the infected medical fraternity, prompting a wave of exports from India at the request of several countries, including the United States. However, finally, the WHO has stopped its trials in July 2020 for reasons of side effects and safety. The antiviral drug Favipiravir, originally produced in Japan to combat influenza, under the name Fabiflu distributed by Glenmark Pharma, was officially approved in June 2020 to treat patients with mild to moderate Corona in several countries. However, its side effects are under scan and the DCGI has only approved emergency use with a prescription.
The WHO has had high hopes for the efficacy of a corticosteroid called dexamethasone as a life-saving drug for patients with severe Corona disease, according to the UK clinical trial. Since dexamethasone is basically an anti-inflammatory drug, its use is only to reduce mortality rates in patients who require oxygen or respiratory support. Another antiviral drug, Remdesivir (Covifor) produced by Gilead Sciences is so far the only drug accepted for the treatment of COVID-19 with the approval of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and recently distributed in India also causing a madness with black marketing reports. However, this drug is not for public purchase in pharmacies, and only for supply to hospitals for doctors to prescribe at their discretion for severe COVID patients. However, the overall safety of the drug has not yet been proven.
Desperate times call for desperate measures. And the search for a possible cure for the killer virus continues. Meanwhile, humanity must adjust to the new normal by following strict rules of social distancing and other precautions – for at least another year, hopefully.