HIV antiretroviral drugs used to treat British Covid19 patient in Kerala

Kochi: The HIV antiretroviral drugs have been used to treat the British national infected with Covid-19 at Ernakulam government medical college hospital. The drugs, Ritonavir and Lopinavir, are expected to be more effective in treating the deadly virus.

It is for the first time in Kerala that the HIV antiretroviral drug is being used to treat Covid-19 patients.

The drug combination has already been used to treat an  Italian couple with severe respiratory symptoms, who were under treatment in a hospital in Jaipur.

The Indian Council of Medical Research had given permission to use the drugs combination.

Both the patients responded well to the drugs combination and turned negative for the virus, reports confirm.  

The Kerala State Medical Board had given permission to give the drugs to the patient who is suffering from pneumonia.

District collector took the initiative to make the drugs available and the doctors revised the treatment protocol after getting the patient’s consent. The treatment is headed by a team of doctors led by medical college principal Dr. Thomas Mathew.

Earlier, the Union Health Ministry has recommended use of anti-HIV drug combinations to treat Covid-19 patients on a case-to-case basis. The Drug Controller General of India recently gave approval for the same.

Meanwhile, the swab samples of the virus infected UK citizen’s wife, who is admitted in the isolation ward, tested negative.