Bangladesh to conduct 2-drug combination trial among COVID-19 patients

A clinical study of the combination of antibiotic and anti-parasitic vaccines for the treatment of the COVID-19 disease has recently been launched in Bangladesh. This initiation of the vaccine study can be attributed to the positive results among patients who have been administered a mixture of two drugs.

ICCDR (International Center for Diarrhoeal Disease Research) in Bangladesh has stated that this clinical trial is expected to be conducted among 72 COVID-19 infected patients who are being treated in 4 hospitals in Dhaka. The study has been started in Mugda Medical College & Hospital and Kurmitola General Hospital.

The center further added that it has commenced on a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind clinical trial to examine the efficacy and safety of Ivermectin, an anti-parasitic medicine, in combination with the antibiotic doxycycline. A panel of local and international experts are involved in the clinical trial that will be conducted in 2 months.

The drug combination has been prescribed by a team of doctors led by Professor Tarek Alam, a senior medicine specialist, in Bangladesh as it was able to cure 60 coronavirus-infected patients within days of administering the drugs. The trial will be conducted among patients between 40 to 65 years old with mild symptoms for a period of less than 7 days.

A single dose of Ivermectin will be offered to a group of participants, along with 5 doses of doxycycline. The other group will be examined by offering only Ivermectin once in a day for 5 days. Additionally, the 3rd group will be studied by providing a placebo for 5 days.

There are nearly 100,000 COVID-19 infected patients in Bangladesh, with around 1,305 death cases.

Supported by Beximco Pharmaceuticals Ltd., the study is aimed at understanding the rate of virological clearance as well as the number of days required to reduce the level of cough and fever. It will also examine the changes in oxygen requirement, reasons for failure in maintaining the oxygen saturation, and causes of mortality, among others.

Source credit:

https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/bangladesh-launches-clinical-trial-of-two-drug-combination-to-treat-covid-19/story-h4hzHmF9UWPwcWTTE9seCM.html

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