The Lancet Infectious Diseases journal recently published a study that outlines how certain antiviral medications have displayed the potential of shortening the contagious phase of Monkeypox. This conclusion was reached on the basis of a study where seven diagnosed patients suffering from this viral disease in the United Kingdom from 2018 to 2021 were closely observed.
Antiviral Drugs To The Rescue: Details Of The Lancet Study
The study chose to analyze cases that also happen to be the first examples of both household and in-hospital transmissions outside Africa. The antiviral drugs used were tecovirimat and brincidofovir, two off-label medications – naturally, the responses of the patients were analyzed for the same.
The study chose to analyze cases that also happen to be the first examples of both household and in-hospital transmissions outside Africa. The antiviral drugs used were tecovirimat and brincidofovir, two off-label medications – naturally, the responses of the patients were analyzed for the same.
The study concluded that brincidofovir was found to be of little or no clinical benefit. However, the other medication, tecovirimat, did display enough potential to spark research interest. While this study was conducted, researchers also detected traces of monkeypox in both throat and blood swabs.
The virus is pretty rare, and as a result, optimum treatment strategies and infection control have not been established yet. Naturally, all this data could help boost global efforts to further comprehend the clinical attributes of the disease and the dynamics of transmission.
In this context, Hugh Adler from Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, UK, commented,
“As public health officials are trying to understand what is causing the May 2022 monkeypox outbreaks in Europe and North America — which have affected several patients who reported neither travel nor an identified link to a previously known case — our study offers some of the first insights into the use of antivirals for the treatment of monkeypox in humans…”
A New Pandemic On The Horizon?
As international travel is gradually returning to how things were before the outbreak of the Covid 19 pandemic, healthcare workers and experts across the world must be alert to any new case of monkeypox.
Currently, there is no treatment that is licensed for Monkeypox, and on top of that, we only have limited information about the same. However, researchers are being patient with the antiviral drugs since these have shown some possibility of treating Monkeypox.
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