MORE than 800 Covid-19 patients treated with an oral pill were effectively cured in three days, with none of them requiring hospitalisation, a Bahrain study has revealed.
Pfizer’s antiviral drug Paxlovid – now available at International Hospital Bahrain – also proved to be a boon for 75 per cent of the remaining study participants, as they defeated the virus on the fifth day of infection without hospitalisation.
More than 1,600 infected people were treated with the drug – identified as the ‘second best therapeutic solution’ to the viral infection – since February 16 as part of the research.
“The antiviral was also found to be effective on the elderly,” National Taskforce for Combating Covid-19 monitoring committee head Lieutenant Colonel Dr Manaf Al Qahtani said on his Twitter account yesterday.
“Bahrain is one of the first countries to provide Paxlovid since February 2022, and local data confirms its effectiveness in completely reducing symptoms,” said
Dr Lt Col Dr Al Qahtani.
“Fifty-one per cent of the infected who were treated with Paxlovid recovered completely on the third day, and 75pc of the remaining (patients) recuperated on the fifth day, without the need for admission to treatment centres.”
Bahrain approved the pill for emergency use in February last month, for people aged 18 and above, who have mild to moderate symptoms and are at risk of developing severe Covid-19, which could lead to death.
Paxlovid, taken over a five-day period, was found to have fewer adverse effects or discontinuations than a placebo (a substance that has no therapeutic effect, used as a control in testing new drugs). The drug, which was also found to be effective against the most recent Omicron variant, consists of two co-packaged antiviral medicines (PF-07321332 and Ritonavir) that are designed to prevent the virus from multiplying in the body.
“More than 1,600 Paxlovid recipients were studied (to reach this conclusion) who were infected with the various mutants of Covid-19, particularly Omicron, since February 16 this year,” Lt Col Dr Al Qahtani said.
“The drug contributed to reducing virus complications and the need for intensive care, particularly in the over-55 age group.
“Paxlovid, along with monoclonal antibody treatment, has become one of the most important therapeutic tools to reduce virus complications and patients’ need for medical care in treatment centres.
“Bahrain’s experience in vaccinations and the use of new treatment tools in record time, along with continued detection and surveillance of mutants and follow-up of data, contributed to the stabilisation of the health epidemiological situation in the kingdom.
“The virus is constantly mutating.
“We must continue to evaluate the expected risks of the virus, according to the data and challenges, and the individual’s behaviour in society. This will help us gradually get back to the normal course of life, without exposing the age group that are most vulnerable to infection.”
The drug was also put under the spotlight on a New England Journal of Medicine paper titled Oral Nirmatrelvir for High-Risk, Non-hospitalised Adults with Covid-19, which studied 2,246 patients, revealing its success.
Paxlovid was earlier administered at the Al Shamil Medical Centre in A’ali. It will now be given out at the International Hospital Bahrain, on Budaiya Highway, which will also function as a comprehensive Covid-19 treatment centre in Bahrain.
The country has been at the forefront in acquiring all approved medicines for the virus in line with global protocols.
Sotrovimab – developed by UK’s GlaxoSmithKline and US firm Vir Biotechnology – was adopted in June, while Merck pill Molnupiravir and Regn-
Cov2, an artificial drug for prophylaxis, were approved in August. Hydroxychloroquine, one of the earliest drugs to treat Covid-19, was approved in April last year.
raji@gdn.com.bh
raji@gdn.com.bh
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