Coronavirus: Antiviral treatment may help prevent severe COVID-19 cases and reduce community expansion, studies say

A new antiviral drug offered in a single shot, according to a Canadian study showing that treatment may help patients with mild COVID-19 recover from infection, according to a Toronto-Canada study. Is much faster, which can be an important tool for slowing the spread of the community.

When our body is attacked by COVID-19, there is a molecule called interferon that attacks and kills the virus.

In a study of 60 COVID-19 outpatients (enough to stay in isolation), Toronto doctors said that patients who received an injection of interferon called peg interferon lambda quickly reduced the amount of virus in the body. I found that it can be reduced.

“I was thrilled to see the effectiveness of the antiviral effect,” Dr. Jordanfeld, one of the authors of the study, told CTV News. “Therefore, we have actually seen virus levels drop much faster than we have seen with most other treatments studied so far.”

According to a survey, it was released on Friday Lancet Respiratory MedicinePatients who received the injection were more than four times more likely to completely eliminate the infection within 7 days than those who received the placebo injection.

In addition, the number of patients who received shots was much smaller, and the condition worsened until emergency medical care was needed.

So how does it work?

Eleanor Fish, a professor of immunology at the University of Toronto and part of the Toronto General Hospital Institute at the University Health Network (UHN), has been studying interferons for decades and they are an important part of CTV News. I explained. Immune response.

“Our first response to any viral infection is to make interferon. We make interferon alpha, interferon beta, interferon lambda,” she said.

However, she explained that the new coronavirus actually encodes a factor that “blunts the interferon response.” “And those with very serious and life-threatening illnesses endangered the interferon response.”

The way this new treatment works is that introducing more interferon into milder cases “neutralizes its inhibition.” [and] It removes the virus so you don’t develop these life-threatening symptoms later in the disease. “

In this new study, half of the participants were given drug-free placebo shots and the other half received actual treatment. By the end of the week, 80% of participants who received peg interferon lambda on the shot had undetectable amounts of virus left in their bodies compared to 63% of the placebo group.

The difference between the two groups increased when researchers explained the amount of viral load the patient had to start with. The higher the viral load, the greater the impact on treatment. Explaining the high viral load, 79% of those treated had an undetectable amount of virus by day 7, but only 38% of the placebo group had it.

“The really important thing in this study is when the viral load is high, the airways are high in virus, and interferon lambda is most effective,” Fish said.

One of the things that sets this treatment apart from other treatments, according to Feld, is that it does not depend on the sequence of the virus itself, which some other treatments do.

“The good thing about Interferon Lambda is that it’s the way it works and it stimulates the body’s natural defenses.”

Scientists believe that this means that it works the same regardless of whether the virus is mutated or not.

“This remedy is […] It’s a regular COVID-19 and is just as effective against these new variants emerging, “says Feld.

Feld is a hepatologist at UHN’s Toronto Liver Disease Center who previously studied the use of peg interferon lambda in viral hepatitis. Peg interferon lambda is a long-acting form synthesized by Eiger BioPharmaceuticals.

If approved, treatment is not the solution in all cases. Evidence to date suggests that it is most effective when applied early to milder cases to prevent severe illness. Patients with severe illness have lung inflammation that can be exacerbated by interferon treatment if they are treated with interferon after they become seriously ill, Fish said.

Fish was not part of this recent study, but is involved in other studies investigating the potential of interferon therapy to help patients with COVID-19. She is currently investigating whether early treatment can block the transmission of the virus to post-exposure contacts, including others in the patient’s home.

She sees Dr. Feld’s work as a promising step.

“It turned us in the right direction,” she said.

“In the early stages, interferon is effective not only in clearing the virus and promoting airway clearance, but also in suppressing its inflammation. Therefore, early treatment with interferon will give good results. If treated later, it will not work. “

According to Feld, there are two main reasons why it is important to develop treatments for mildly ill patients.

“Early detection of infection, treatment of people and rapid reduction of viral levels can prevent the individual from becoming potentially ill and requiring hospitalization or more serious complications,” he said. I pointed out.

But the main reason is that it is a preventive tool. Feld explained that lower levels of the virus in an outpatient’s body make it less likely that high levels of the virus will be transmitted to others.

“The idea here is that someone discovers that he or she is infected and immediately receives this one small injection. That’s it. Additional treatment, medications to take, […] When you return to the clinic, a single injection will quickly lower the virus level, and hopefully prevent the virus from getting sick, infecting others, and even the time people have to stay. Isolation can even be shortened. “

Guilherme Silva, one of the study participants, said she jumped at the opportunity to participate in the study after a positive COVID-19 test in August.

The 29-year-old did not experience many symptoms, but told CTV News that he felt that it had a purpose to be part of the study.

“I’m very happy to hear that the tests are giving good results,” Silva said. “And especially to be part of it […] It just makes you feel better overall. “

While this recent study is promising, researchers warn that it is still in its infancy and limited due to the narrow scope of the study.

Researchers want to follow up on much larger studies.

Feld said it’s difficult to know the cost of treatment because it hasn’t gone through the approval process yet. This is still a long way off.

“But the overall cost of administering this can be imagined to be much lower than many other treatments evaluated for COVID-19,” Feld said.

Meanwhile, other studies are underway in the United States and here in Canada to find out how interferon can help fight COVID-19.

“I think we have a lot of potential,” Feld said. “That is, this is clearly the first study.”