An Australian conference on the latest research into the virus will hear about the latest research on the treatment on Friday.The drugs Camostat and Nafamostat are used in Japan and South Korea to treat pancreatitis and reflux but researchers have found they can also block the virus that causes Covid from spreading through the body.The journal European Pharmaceutical Review reports that Camostat sped up the recovery of Covid patients by 40 per cent when they had mild symptoms of the virus and by 50 per cent in those aged over 50.The medicines are off patent, making them cheap to produce, and they have already proven to be safe for human use although they would have to be used in much higher doses than normal in Covid treatment.A one-day Australian conference run by the Australasian Society for HIV, Viral Hepatitis and Sexual Health Medicine (ASHM) including prominent international and local specialists will hear about the latest research into the drugs.Convened by Doherty Institute director Professor Sharon Lewin, the conference will hear about a Danish study where Camostat was given to patients with Covid early in their infection.“This drug called Camostat belongs to a class of drugs that stop the virus entering the cell, it’s an oral drug and there is a really high interest in oral antivirals because you almost certainly need an antiviral drug early in the infection, not once you’re in hospital,” Professor Lewin said.“It’s of very high interest to us in Australia because there’s currently a national study called ASCOT which is running right now in Australia and India, actually, and it’s looking at a drug called Nafamostat which is like the big brother of Camostat, it is also an antiviral drug that needs to be given as an infusion so a little less easy to give but it’s a more potent drug. “If we had a really good antiviral drug that we could give people at diagnosis that could be quite transformative for the outlook on Covid.”A study of Camostat in 175 patients, half of whom received a dummy treatment found mildly ill Covid patients who got the drug had improved symptoms after just five days compared to eight days for those not given the drug.Patients experiencing shortness of breath and a cough given Camostat recovered twice as fast as those given the dummy drug.Companies in India, Japan, Korea and the United States are already developing the drugs with some turning Nafamostat into a pill and others trialling its use as an inhalant.NED-1371 Coronavirus Myth BustersThe medicine is already being used in Covid wards in Japanese and Korean hospitals.Professor Steve Webb an Intensive Care Specialist based in Perth who is working on the international REMAP-CAP study trialling treatments for Covid will report his latest findings to the conference.“They’ve recently had a paper from New England Journal of Medicine, showing that anticoagulation works but only in some people who aren’t yet on a ventilator,” Professor Lewin said.The University of Sydney’s Eddie Holmes — named NSW’s Scientist of the Year in 2020 for his work establishing that SARS-CoV-2 was the cause of Covid-19 — will also present his latest research on the origins of the virus.He has argued “careful and critical analysis of the currently available data provided no evidence for the idea that SARS-CoV-2 originated in a laboratory.”Rather, his paper claims “there is substantial body of scientific evidence supporting a zoonotic origin for SARS-CoV-2”.
Powered by WPeMatico
