RE: Vaccine18 Mar 2020 12:39
Not a cure yet.
"Patients taking favipiravir tested negative after a median of four days, compared to 11 days in the control group, according to Zhang. There were no clear side effects, he added.
Another clinical trial in Wuhan revealed that patients treated with favipiravir recovered from fever in 2.5 days on average, versus 4.2 days for other patients. Coughing symptoms also improved within 4.6 days -- about 1.4 days earlier than those who did not take the drug.
Only 8.2% of the patients taking favipiravir needed respiratory aids, whereas 17.1% of the patients in the control group were put on devices.
The positive reception in China contrasts with reservations over Avigan in Japan, where the drug obtained regulatory approval in 2014 on condition that it would only be used if the government decided to fight new or re-emerging influenza viruses. Studies found that the drug may cause fetal deaths or deformities, and can be transferred in semen."