Timely medication & steroids and not Remdesivir key to Covid cure: Expert

Lucknow: Even as reports of people running from pillar to post to get Remdesivir and Fabiflu medicine for corona patients has been on the rise, scientists, citing several researches and studies, are of the opinion that clinical outcome may not change by using the fabiflu or remdesivir. In the case of Remdesivir, in certain reports it has been though indicated that it can at best reduce hospital time as these medicines are anti-viral.

People rather should go for

steroids

along with other prescribed combinations to save the vital organs like lungs, heart, brain and kidney. Citing reports, Prof Ramji Upadhyaya, an expert on infectious disease, said that during the first wave, symptoms were different than in this wave. Then symptoms were showing only after fourth or fifth day and disease progress worsened after fifth to sixth day onwards, however, now if you don’t pay attention on the day one itself, it could affect the patient severely. Timing is very important, he said.

Rather than waiting for the RT-PCR report, which is taking three to four days, one should go for CBP, CRP, LDH and D-dimer blood tests, if one is showing even minor symptoms or is surrounded by positive family members at home, Prof Ram, who is a native of Agra in Uttar Pradesh, said and added, reports of these tests would come in a matter of few hours.

Medications like steroids and colchicine should be taken immediately in calibrated dose if the reports show hiked protein and inflammation. He said that it has been seen that steroids have shown great impact in saving the vital organs, if the same had been taken in time. Further elaborating on the reason for hurry, Prof Ram said that suppose one’s house has caught fire, instead of going into the cause of fire, one will first try to extinguish the fire.

Similarly, CBP and CRP will show the level of inflammation and if it is high, the first thing to be done is to reduce the same and it can be done by administering steroids in calibrated dose, the findings have shown, Prof Ram, who is the chief scientist at Ohm Oncology, USA, said.

Earlier, the level of inflammation rose after the fifth or sixth day, but now it is being seen that the level has seen big jump even on the first day and hence the protocol of the treatment should be changed, he said. Hence steroid from the first day is a better way to save the lives of corona patients, Prof Ram said and added that among steroids Dexamethasone and Prednisolone can be given.

He further said that High resolution CT alone would not help in identifying the infection as some shadow or patches in lungs could be because of environmental concern and the same could be misunderstood as Corona effect. Citing a study at King’s College London, Prof Ram, who is also the professor at Plasma Bioscience Research Centre (PBRC)/ Applied Medicine Research Centre, Kwangwoon University, Seoul, South Korea, further said they conducted a biopsy of Corona infected body and found that the lungs have got solidified due to blood clotting.

If the Corona infection reaches lungs, blood thinner should be given along with steroids to save the solidification of the lungs due to Coronavirus. However, the blood thinner should not be low molecular weight Heparin, which can induce thrombocytopenia, which is more common in females especially in those which are on any kind of hormonal replacement therapy or during pre-menopause stage. Chances of clotting are more in high-risk patients those who are above 45 years of age, Prof Ram further said.