University Health Network carried out a study that showed experimental antiviral drug treatment — peginterferon-lambda treatment — can help speed up clearance of the coronavirus in non-hospitalised patients.

This can further improve clinical outcomes and curb community spread, according to the study published in the journal Lancet Respiratory Medicine.

Also read: Scientists develop surveillance tool to study SARS-CoV-2

Interferon-lambda is a protein produced by the body in response to viral infections. It has the ability to activate a number of cellular pathways to kill invading viruses.

Lead author Dr Jordan Feld, a liver specialist at Toronto Centre for Liver Disease, University Health Network (UHN), said: “This treatment has large therapeutic potential, especially at this moment as we see aggressive variants of the virus spreading around the globe which is less sensitive to both vaccines and treatment with antibodies.”

The study suggested that patients who received a single injection of peginterferon-lambda were over four times more likely to have cleared the infection within seven days compared to a group treated with a placebo.

“People who were treated cleared the virus quickly, and the effect was most pronounced in those with the highest viral levels. We also saw a trend towards quicker improvement of respiratory symptoms in the treatment group,” explained Feld.

Also read: South Africa puts hold on AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine over its low efficacy

The study indicated that participants with higher viral levels (above one million copies per mL) were much more likely to clear the infection with treatment than placebo: 79 per cent in the treatment arm compared to 38 per cent in the placebo group, with virus levels decreasing quickly in everyone in the treatment group.

“If we can decrease the virus level quickly, people are less likely to spread the infection to others and we may even be able to shorten the time required for self-isolation,” said Feld.

Methodology

For the study, the researchers followed 60 Covid-19 positive patients, five of whom went to emergency care with deteriorating respiratory symptoms. Of those, four were in the placebo group, while only one was in the group which received the actual drug.

comment COMMENT NOW