China Adds Two Drugs, Embraces Plasma in Latest Covid-19 Treatment Plan
Yicai Global
DATE:  Feb 20 2020
/ SOURCE:  yicai
China Adds Two Drugs, Embraces Plasma in Latest Covid-19 Treatment Plan China Adds Two Drugs, Embraces Plasma in Latest Covid-19 Treatment Plan

(Yicai Global) Feb. 19 -- As the number of new coronavirus cases outside of Hubei province drops for the 15th consecutive day, China's National Health Commission has selected two more antiviral drugs and is promoting convalescent plasma therapy in its latest document on the handling of the health crisis.

Chloroquine Phosphate and Arbidol will now join α-interferon, Lopinavir/Ritonavir and Ribavirin on the list of antiviral medicines being used in clinical trials against Covid-19, the NHC said in the sixth edition of its Diagnosis and Treatment Plan for Pneumonia Caused by the Novel Coronavirus.

No more than three of these drugs should be used at the same time and the duration of treatment should not exceed 10 days, it added.

The NHC is also supporting the use of blood plasma taken from convalescent patients as a form of therapy for critically ill patients whose condition is rapidly deteriorating. Those recovering from the disease have very high levels of antibodies specifically targeting Covid-19, Zhang Dingyu, director of Wuhan's Jinyintan Hospital, said on Feb. 13.

The updated plan has raised the possibility that the virus can be transmitted through aerosols, or substances kept under pressure and released as a fine spray of gas. Those who are exposed to high concentrations of such gases in a closed environment might succumb to the disease, it added. However, the main route of transmission remains through respiratory droplets and close physical contact.

The latest edition has also removed previous diagnostic criteria which had been required of Hubei, the epidemic's epicenter. In the fifth edition, the NHC ordered Hubei to broaden its diagnostic criteria to include image scans of patients' lungs and not just rely on viral nucleic acid tests. This measure was to reduce the possibility of the disease evading detection and improve control of the epidemic during a critical period, the NHC said.

As of yesterday, there were 74,185 confirmed cases of the disease on the Chinese mainland and 2,004 deaths, it added.

Editor: Kim Taylor

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Keywords:   National Health Commission,Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia