Certain drugs which were repurposed after the COVID-19 pandemic gripped the world have changed the way the disease has been dealt with.
The drugs that have previously been authorized to treat other conditions have been “repurposed” to combat COVID-19.
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Among the most successful drugs used include corticosteroids like dexamethasone which have saved one million lives during the pandemic.
The anti-inflammatory drug dampens the immune system, preventing it from overreacting and releasing excessive amounts of chemicals called cytokines in a process known as the “cytokine storm”.
Prof Paul Hunter, a professor in medicine and an infectious diseases specialist at the University of East Anglia in the UK, said that dexamethasone if given too early can make people sicker and it knocks the body’s immune system and cannot overcome the virus. “If you give it at the right time, you make them less sick.”
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Likewise, monoclonal antibodies like tocilizumab, which is a repurposed rheumatoid arthritis drug, also targets the cytokine storm by inhibiting the action of a cytokine called Interleukin-6.
Not all drugs have shown promise however. An antiviral drug, Remdesevir, has not been found to be effective forcing the World Health Organisation to recommend against giving it to COVID-19 patients. (AW)
