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Updates on the Current Antivirals Therapy for the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Mini-Review

Received: 22 October 2020    Accepted: 6 November 2020    Published: 19 November 2020
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Abstract

Background: The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been recognized as a global public health threat and announced as a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO). In the absence of vaccine development for the COVID-19, one of the most common and currently implemented ways to combat the COVID-19 is to test the currently used antivirals through vitro and vivo trials. Objective: This mini-review aims at reviewing the latest available evidence on the potentially effective and safe antiviral drugs that can be used for controlling the COVID-19. Methods: Three databases (PubMed, Google Scholar, and Cochrane) were rapidly searched from 30 March to 2nd of October 2020 on studies reporting clinical outcomes of antivirals against SARS, MERS, or COVID-19. Findings/Conclusion: Currently, many antivirals that have been used with previous infectious diseases, are being used to treat the COVID-19 infection. Most of the observational studies and the RCTs have provided mixed or confusing findings. Due to the lack of reliable evidence from Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs), no effective antiviral drug proved its efficacy and safety against the COVID-19. This rapid review focuses mainly on the latest findings of the most common used antivirals, hoping to continue the next reviews once we have stronger published RCTs based evidence.

Published in American Journal of Laboratory Medicine (Volume 5, Issue 6)
DOI 10.11648/j.ajlm.20200506.12
Page(s) 162-166
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

SARS-CoV-2, Pandemic, Antiviral, Corona Virus, Clinical Trial

References
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Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Mahmoud Radwan, Aymen Elsous, Rizwana Hussain. (2020). Updates on the Current Antivirals Therapy for the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Mini-Review. American Journal of Laboratory Medicine, 5(6), 162-166. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajlm.20200506.12

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    ACS Style

    Mahmoud Radwan; Aymen Elsous; Rizwana Hussain. Updates on the Current Antivirals Therapy for the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Mini-Review. Am. J. Lab. Med. 2020, 5(6), 162-166. doi: 10.11648/j.ajlm.20200506.12

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    AMA Style

    Mahmoud Radwan, Aymen Elsous, Rizwana Hussain. Updates on the Current Antivirals Therapy for the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Mini-Review. Am J Lab Med. 2020;5(6):162-166. doi: 10.11648/j.ajlm.20200506.12

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ajlm.20200506.12,
      author = {Mahmoud Radwan and Aymen Elsous and Rizwana Hussain},
      title = {Updates on the Current Antivirals Therapy for the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Mini-Review},
      journal = {American Journal of Laboratory Medicine},
      volume = {5},
      number = {6},
      pages = {162-166},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ajlm.20200506.12},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajlm.20200506.12},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajlm.20200506.12},
      abstract = {Background: The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been recognized as a global public health threat and announced as a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO). In the absence of vaccine development for the COVID-19, one of the most common and currently implemented ways to combat the COVID-19 is to test the currently used antivirals through vitro and vivo trials. Objective: This mini-review aims at reviewing the latest available evidence on the potentially effective and safe antiviral drugs that can be used for controlling the COVID-19. Methods: Three databases (PubMed, Google Scholar, and Cochrane) were rapidly searched from 30 March to 2nd of October 2020 on studies reporting clinical outcomes of antivirals against SARS, MERS, or COVID-19. Findings/Conclusion: Currently, many antivirals that have been used with previous infectious diseases, are being used to treat the COVID-19 infection. Most of the observational studies and the RCTs have provided mixed or confusing findings. Due to the lack of reliable evidence from Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs), no effective antiviral drug proved its efficacy and safety against the COVID-19. This rapid review focuses mainly on the latest findings of the most common used antivirals, hoping to continue the next reviews once we have stronger published RCTs based evidence.},
     year = {2020}
    }
    

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    T1  - Updates on the Current Antivirals Therapy for the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Mini-Review
    AU  - Mahmoud Radwan
    AU  - Aymen Elsous
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    T2  - American Journal of Laboratory Medicine
    JF  - American Journal of Laboratory Medicine
    JO  - American Journal of Laboratory Medicine
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    AB  - Background: The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been recognized as a global public health threat and announced as a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO). In the absence of vaccine development for the COVID-19, one of the most common and currently implemented ways to combat the COVID-19 is to test the currently used antivirals through vitro and vivo trials. Objective: This mini-review aims at reviewing the latest available evidence on the potentially effective and safe antiviral drugs that can be used for controlling the COVID-19. Methods: Three databases (PubMed, Google Scholar, and Cochrane) were rapidly searched from 30 March to 2nd of October 2020 on studies reporting clinical outcomes of antivirals against SARS, MERS, or COVID-19. Findings/Conclusion: Currently, many antivirals that have been used with previous infectious diseases, are being used to treat the COVID-19 infection. Most of the observational studies and the RCTs have provided mixed or confusing findings. Due to the lack of reliable evidence from Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs), no effective antiviral drug proved its efficacy and safety against the COVID-19. This rapid review focuses mainly on the latest findings of the most common used antivirals, hoping to continue the next reviews once we have stronger published RCTs based evidence.
    VL  - 5
    IS  - 6
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • International Cooperation Department, Palestinian Ministry of Health, Gaza Strip, Palestine

  • Faculty of Medical Science, Israa University, Gaza Strip, Palestine

  • Centre of Excellence in Women and Children, Agha Khan University, Abbottabad, Pakistan

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