COVID pill

This is a new treatment for COVID-19, also referred to as the COVID antiviral pill or, even less frequently, as the COVID-19 antiviral pill.   Its official name is molnupiravir. It is an anti-virus agent, originally developed to treat influenza, which introduces errors into the genetic code of the virus, thus interfering with its ability to replicate and spread throughout the body.  It is delivered as a pill to be taken every 12 hours.

 Early trials have been very encouraging so now the treatment has to pass all the tests required by medical authorities.  But there is a sense of urgency about this.  The only other treatments are plasma therapy, which has to be taken intravenously, and dexamethasone which is beneficial for the critically ill. This one nips the virus in the bud, so to speak. Popping a pill will be so much easier.

 There is one other new treatment, sotrovimab, which is now available in Australia.  This is a monoclonal antibody, a lab-made protein designed to mimic the immune system’s ability to fight the spike protein of COVID-19, blocking its entry into human cells.  This one has to be administered intravenously, a procedure that requires about an hour in hospital.  It is beneficial for people in the early stages of COVID because it halts the progress of the virus.