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New Delhi: A low cost drug used commonly to treat depression and obsessive compulsive disorder has been found useful in reducing by a third the risk of prolonged hospitalisation of Covid-19 patients. A study published in The Lancet Global Health named this drug as Fluvoxamine, which was given to 741 Covid patients in Brazil as part of a randomised trial to investigate the efficacy of eight repurposed treatments for the infection.
The trial of the eight treatments began in June 2020, with the fluvoxamine section beginning in January 2021 on Brazilian adults who were symptomatic, had tested positive for Covid-19, were unvaccinated and had at least one additional criterion for high risk.
The researchers said 741 participants were given 100mg of fluvoxamine twice daily for 10 days while 756 others received a placebo. Four weeks later, when the data on hospitalisation among the two groups was analysed, it was found that of the 741 who received the drug, 79 (11%) required a stay of more than six hours in an emergency setting or hospitalisation. Comparably, 119 (16%) of the 756 participants who received the placebo required a similar extended stay in hospital settings.
These results demonstrated a reduction in the risk of prolonged hospitalisation or emergency care in 5% of the participants with a relative risk reduction of 32%, the researchers claimed. Although mortality was not a primary outcome of the study, in a secondary “per protocol” analysis of patients who took at least 80% of medication doses, there was one death in the fluvoxamine group compared with 12 in the placebo group.
“Our results are consistent with earlier, smaller trials. Given fluvoxamine’s safety, tolerability, ease of use, low cost, and widespread availability, these findings may have an important influence on national and international guidelines on clinical management of Covid,” Dr Gilmar Reis, co-principal investigator, told the medical journal.
Dr Shamsher Dwivedee, director, clinical services, VIMHANS, said the structure of the study was robust but it was too early to say whether the drug was a game changer in Covid management. “It may be a promising start but is still not a eureka moment,” he said.
Dwivedee said monoclonal antibodies developed for Covid remain the most promising drugs so far. Recently, the World Health Organization included this in its latest guideline for treating Covid patients with mild as well as severe symptoms. Monoclonal antibodies were used for treating former US president Donald Trump.
The trial of the eight treatments began in June 2020, with the fluvoxamine section beginning in January 2021 on Brazilian adults who were symptomatic, had tested positive for Covid-19, were unvaccinated and had at least one additional criterion for high risk.
The researchers said 741 participants were given 100mg of fluvoxamine twice daily for 10 days while 756 others received a placebo. Four weeks later, when the data on hospitalisation among the two groups was analysed, it was found that of the 741 who received the drug, 79 (11%) required a stay of more than six hours in an emergency setting or hospitalisation. Comparably, 119 (16%) of the 756 participants who received the placebo required a similar extended stay in hospital settings.
These results demonstrated a reduction in the risk of prolonged hospitalisation or emergency care in 5% of the participants with a relative risk reduction of 32%, the researchers claimed. Although mortality was not a primary outcome of the study, in a secondary “per protocol” analysis of patients who took at least 80% of medication doses, there was one death in the fluvoxamine group compared with 12 in the placebo group.
“Our results are consistent with earlier, smaller trials. Given fluvoxamine’s safety, tolerability, ease of use, low cost, and widespread availability, these findings may have an important influence on national and international guidelines on clinical management of Covid,” Dr Gilmar Reis, co-principal investigator, told the medical journal.
Dr Shamsher Dwivedee, director, clinical services, VIMHANS, said the structure of the study was robust but it was too early to say whether the drug was a game changer in Covid management. “It may be a promising start but is still not a eureka moment,” he said.
Dwivedee said monoclonal antibodies developed for Covid remain the most promising drugs so far. Recently, the World Health Organization included this in its latest guideline for treating Covid patients with mild as well as severe symptoms. Monoclonal antibodies were used for treating former US president Donald Trump.
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