A British coronavirus patient in India who was in a critical condition has tested negative after being treated drugs used on HIV sufferers as well as with Hydroxy Chloroquine.
The British man, who has not been named in reports, was treated at the Ernakulam Medical College Hospital in the city of Kochi in the southern Indian state of Kerala after testing positive for COVID-19 and suffering from severe pneumonia.
Doctors from the hospital are quoted in local media as saying that the patient was treated with a combination of the drugs Lopinavir and Ritonavir for seven days, with his latest results showing he now tested negative for COVID-19.
The results came from samples taken three days after he was given the drugs, with two tests coming back negative.
The hospital’s nodal officer for COIVD-19 Dr Fathauddeen said: “He was very critical when admitted to the medical college. We gave oxygen support and noninvasive ventilation to the patient. Within 48 hours, we administered an antiviral cocktail of Hydroxy Chloroquine, lopinavir, Ritonavir, and Oseltamivir to the patient. The virus attacks the body multiple proteins and that’s why we used the multipronged therapy.”
The combination of Lopinavir and Ritonavir had reportedly been used in a hospital in the city of Jaipur after India’s Council of Medical Research gave permission for them to be used to treat coronavirus.
India’s Union Health Ministry has also recommended the use of anti-HIV drug combinations to treat coronavirus patients on a case-to-case basis.
The UK national was one of 17 other British tourists staying in the hill resort of Munnar. The group of 18 tourists and one local resident were taken off a flight before it was set to take off for Dubai after the man’s COVID-19 test came back positive.
His wife, who was travelling with him, has reportedly tested negative whilst six others in the group are being treated in the same hospital.
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Story By: Alex Cope, Sub-Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Newsflash
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