It is a cocktail of medicines for MS, HIV and Hepatitis. And the results, which are published in the scientific journal The Lancet, are unique according to Anders Sönnerborg infectious physician at Karolinska Hospital. 

- This is the first time that humans have been able to show that virus levels can be affected so that they go down faster with drugs, he says.

Small study

The study was conducted on 127 patients who were admitted to Hong Kong hospitals with mild to moderate symptoms. 

86 of them received a combination of the drugs interferon beta-1b, lopinavir / ritonavir and ribavirin for two weeks, while 41 people received lopinavir / ritonavir only. The treatment was started on average five days after the onset of symptoms.

Of those taking all three medications, it was no longer possible to detect the virus in the body after an average of seven days, compared to the control group who recovered after twelve days.  

"Our test shows that early treatment of cases of mild to moderate covid-19 with a combination of three antiviral drugs can quickly push back the viral load in a patient's body," said Kwok-Yung Yuen at the University of Hong Kong, who led the study. 

"Happy results"

Anders Sönnerborg now wants to see further studies in which elderly or patients with risk factors may try the medication.  

- You have to be very careful because it is a tough and side-effect treatment but I think the results are gratifying, says Anders Sönnerborg.