Abstract

A REVIEW ON ANTIVIRAL DRUGS USED IN COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Satish S. and Keerthana Sajith*

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Abstract

Antiviral medications are helping to turn the tide of the Covid-19 pandemic, lowering the risk of serious illness, hospitalization and death from the virus. Currently there is not an effective antiviral treatment for COVID-19, but a large number of drugs have been evaluated since the beginning of the pandemic, and many of them have been used for the treatment of COVID-19 despite the preliminary or conflicting results of the clinical trials. The present review summarizes the antivirals used in COVID-19 There were more than 300 clinical trials on, various antiviral agents were in various stages of evaluation for COVID-19 during pandemic. Despite the urgent need to find an effective antiviral treatment for COVID-19 through randomized controlled studies, certain agents are being used all over the world based on either in-vitro or extrapolated evidence or observational studies. The most frequently used agents includes chloroquine, hydroxychloroquine, lopinavir/ritonavir, favipiravir and remdesivir. Nitazoxanide and ivermectin were been reported to have an activity against SARS-CoV-2 in vitro and are licensed for the treatment of some other human infections. In conclusion lopinavir/ritonavir, hydroxychloroquine, merimepodib, and umifenovir were found to be ineffective in RCTs, they should not be used. Additional studies are needed to define the role of remdesivir, favipiravir, interferons, ivermectin, dutasteride, proxulutamide, fluvoxamine, bromhexine, nitazoxanide, and niclosamid in the treatment of COVID-19.

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