A Brazilian study, conducted by members of the Covid-19 Brazil Coalition, shows evidence that antiviral drugs used to treat HIV and hepatitis C are not effective against the infection caused by the coronavirus. The results were published on March 7, in the journal The Lancet: Regional Health – Americas.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, some medicines were tested as “off label” alternatives for the treatment of the disease. Among them were atazanavir – originally approved in Brazil for patients with HIV –, sofosbuvir and daclatasvir, indicated to treat hepatitis C.
Research observed the use of drugs in 255 volunteers, who had Covid between February and August 2021. The use of antivirals did not lead to significant changes in the inhibition of the Sars-CoV-2 virus in hospitalized patients, compared to a placebo, after ten days of treatment.
The study had three objectives: the first was to compare the action of the drugs alone with the use of placebo in decreasing viral load. The second, to evaluate whether the combination of these drugs could improve the results. And finally, test the best option of the two previous phases – isolated or combined – in comparison to placebo to analyze the clinical outcome of patients.
However, the research was stopped soon after the conclusion of the first phase, since none of the three antivirals showed better results than the placebo already at the beginning of the treatment.
“No significant reduction in viral load was observed with the use of atazanavir, daclatasvir, or sofosbuvir/daclatasvir compared to placebo in hospitalized COVID-19 patients requiring oxygen support with symptom onset nine days or less,” the authors wrote. of the study in the published article.
The research involved scientists from Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein, Hcor, Hospital Sírio-Libanês, Hospital Moinhos de Vento, Hospital Alemão Oswaldo Cruz, Beneficência Portuguesa de São Paulo (BP), Brazilian Clinical Research Institute (BCRI) and Rede Brasileira de Pesquisa em Intensive Care (BRICNet).
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