Coronavirus: how do we treat Covid-19 patients?

Text by: Caroline Paré Follow | Ophélie Lahccen

Around the world, trials are underway to find a treatment for the coronavirus, pending a vaccine. Explanations.

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Professor Yazdan Yazdanpanah is head of the infectious and tropical diseases department at the Bichat-Claude-Bernard hospital in Paris. Researcher at Inserm and coordinator of the REACTing network for responding to emerging infectious diseases, he is a member of the Scientific Council in the management of the health situation linked to the coronavirus and of the Expertise Analysis Research Committee (CARE), set up by Emmanuel Macron.

Monday, March 30, he participated in the program Priorité santé , live on RFI.

To treat Covid-19, researchers are working on existing drugs and other teams are working on new products. Explain to us.

You should know that there are products, molecules against the virus that we knew for other diseases like HIV, Ebola, malaria, etc. We realized that they could work against the Covid-19. We are currently assessing their effects. In a second step, and it will take more time, there are molecules against the virus which would be used at a much earlier stage. At the same time, you should know that there are also a lot of inflammation in this disease. There are products that are used to target each of these inflammations.

Are there any promising avenues?

There are a number of studies that have been done in China. Unfortunately, nothing extremely encouraging is emerging at the moment.

Many talk about hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine, what do you think?

We have to be very careful, because for the moment, the data we have on chloroquine are only in vitro data, that is to say in the test tube. There are very few studies in humans that have proven their effectiveness. Some people still want to take it, in case it would help them ... You have to be careful, because drugs like hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine can cause tolerance problems. Taking them in high doses (when we don't even know if it works) can lead to toxicity problems. This molecule can also have effects on heart activity and health. These are drugs that can be dangerous: above all, do not self-medicate!

We are witnessing a confrontation between urgency and scientific rigor. Do you feel this pressure?

Yes, people need hope. They want to be told right away that there is treatment. Unfortunately, we cannot do it. I do not think that scientists should give this hope, when it is not founded. People should not be given false hope.

What is missing to better care for patients with severe forms of Covid-19?

What we need is treatment. If we had treatment, it would make things much easier. Not only a treatment to cure but also a treatment to prevent. We also need a vaccine. These are tools that we do not yet have, but I hope we will have them over time. For treatment, it will probably be a little faster than for the vaccine. In the meantime, I think that the strategies that we are implementing - such as containment - will allow us to get out, at least temporarily, from this crisis. It will also be necessary to screen, when we come out of confinement, this could prevent outbreaks from starting again.

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