Geneva: A recent trial by World
Health Organization has concluded that anti-viral drug, Remdesivir has shown
little or no effect on the coronavirus. The trial was conducted in more than 30
countries and more than 11,000 patients participated in the trial. Recently,
Remdesivir was used in treating the United States incumbent President Donald
Trump when he was briefly hospitalized after testing positive for the
virus. Remdesivir was originally
developed for Hepatitis disease and later for viral infections like Ebola. The
WHO trial finds that Remdesivir is reviewing its options on how to move forward
during the current coronavirus pandemic that is raging across the world. More
than a million people have died so far due to the pandemic that broke out in
early March. The deadly coronavirus reportedly originated from a wet market in
Wuhan which is situated in Hubei province in China. But there were reports that the virus may not have
had originated from the Wuhan market and China rejected all claims that the
virus had originated in the Asian country. According to the scientists and
health experts, the coronavirus may have been originated in either bats or
pangolins.
Remidisivir is manufactured by
pharmaceutical company Gilead. The company has rejected the WHO study and said
that the drug is being used across the world to treat covid-19 and the drug was
decreasing the recovery period by five days. Gilead contested the trial design
and complained that the trial has not been peer reviewed properly and did not
undergo rigorous scientific testing before the results were published.
Remdisivir is being used in several
countries such as the United States, India and the United Kingdom and the
health experts, doctors have opined that the recent trial conducted by WHO on
Remdesivir only amplified the opinions in medical community that the drug was
not suitable to treat the coronavirus. Nearly, 40 million people in the world
have had been infected by the virus so far and the virus has been particularly
damaging to people with chronic medical conditions such as diabetes, heart
problems. Studies had shown that children and teenagers have shown a
considerable resistance to the coronavirus due to their high immunity but
warned that younger people even those without any chronic diseases are prone to
the virus. Several vaccine candidates are being developed around the globe and
are in different phases. There are countless lingering doubts about the vaccine
among the public that when the vaccine would arrive and if approved by medical
regulatory bodies, who would first receive the vaccine and how much it would
cost an average person to obtain the vaccine.
