Click here to join Express Pune WhatsApp channel and get a curated list of our stories
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
Tags:
Journalism of Courage
Mycophenolate, an immunosuppressive drug, has shown efficacy in the treatment of Covid-19, a study conducted by doctors of Sahyadri Hospital in Pune and published by The Lancet claims.
The drug is used to suppress immunity in certain autoimmune diseases and prevent rejection after kidney transplantation.
According to the research, Mycophenolate suppresses the multiplication of the virus and reduces the reaction of cytokine storm resulting in better and faster recovery from Covid-19 infection.
For the study — conducted under the guidance of Dr Deepa Divekar and Dr Atul Sajgure as a principal investigator — around 212 Covid-19-infected patients requiring hospitalisation were enrolled.
Of them, 106 patients consented to receive the drug along with standard treatment, while the remaining 106 refused.
Moreover, the enrolled patients had varying degrees of disease severity with lung involvement ranging from 10 to 90 per cent.
According to the result, the death rate due to Covid-19 infection in patients who received Mycophenolate was significantly less compared to those who did not receive it.
Also, patients who received Mycophenolate recovered faster from Covid-19 infection and could be discharged from the hospital earlier. “No post-Covid lung fibrosis effects were observed. No side effects of Mycophenolate were noted in the study,” doctors said Tuesday.
The study concluded that the drug Mycophenolate was effective in the treatment of Covid-19. The drug was also safe and well tolerated by the patients.
Moreover, Dr Atul and Dr Sajgure claimed that during the first wave of Covid-19, patients who were already taking Mycophenolate for other ailments recovered faster. These observations have been published in a medical journal.
