China coronavirus: Beijing confirms use of anti-HIV drugs at some hospitals
- Three Beijing hospitals have started treating patients with the anti-HIV drugs Lopinavir and Ritonavir
- Deaths in China from the rapidly spreading coronavirus infection have risen
Beijing’s government announced on Sunday that some of the city’s hospitals are giving patients infected with the Wuhan coronavirus medication used to treat HIV, part of efforts to stop the spread of the deadly illness.
“Online rumors say that an anti-Aids drug has been used and proved to be effective in treating the coronavirus,” according to a statement by Beijing Municipal Health Commission. “The National Health Commission has recommended the rumored names to treat the coronavirus before and we have Lopinavir/Ritonavir in stock in Beijing,”
Three Beijing hospitals designated to treat confirmed coronavirus cases – Beijing Ditan Hospital, Beijing Youan Hospital, and No 5 Medical Center of PLA General Hospital – have begun using this therapy for treatment, the statement added.
The two drugs are antiretrovirals, which block the ability of HIV to bind with healthy cells and reproduce, and are often used in combination to treat the illness.
New research on 41 Wuhan coronavirus cases in China published in Friday’s edition of The Lancet medical journal noted “substantial clinical benefit” from use of the medication in treatment of Sars, a coronavirus epidemic that swept through China in 2002 and 2003.
However, the authors – experts from numerous medical research institutes in mainland China – also said no such treatment method had been proven.