Coronavirus outbreak: Three patients in Rajasthan cured; combination drugs helped, claim experts

JAIPUR: In a heartening piece of news that could lift the coronavirus gloom, combination drugs used for the treatment of swine flu, malaria and HIV have helped cure three patients in Rajasthan, experts claimed on Sunday.
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The 69-year-old Italian tourist, who was the first to test positive for Covid-19 in the state and was undergoing treatment at SMS Hospital, was declared free of the virus on Sunday, but would need further treatment for an underlying lung condition. His wife, who was the first to recover, has been shifted to RUHS College of Medical Sciences for observation in keeping with the recommended protocol.
The third patient, an 85-year-old man who returned from Dubai on February 28 and tested positive on March 10, also remains under observation after testing negative in post-treatment investigations, the hospital said.
The couple came to Jaipur on February 28 after touring major tourist destinations of the state as part of a 23-member Italian group which landed in Delhi on February 20.
TOI was the first to report ‘Italian coronavirus patient being treated with HIV, swine flu & malaria medicines’ on March 5. While the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared Covid-19 as pandemic, SMS Hospital doctors achieved a major success by curing all three patients with some of the common anti-viral drugs.
Currently, a 24-year-old youth is undergoing treatment for Covid-19. He tested positive on Saturday.
“All the three Covid-19 patients were given the same treatment, which is a combination of anti-viral drugs — lopinavir and ritonavir. The doctors provided two tablets of 200/50mg of lopinavir and ritonavir twice a day,” said Rohit Kumar Singh, additional chief secretary (health).
Apart from lopinavir and ritonavir, the two drugs useful in HIV treatment, doctors gave them oseltamivir, a medicine useful in the treatment of swine flu, and chloroquine, a drug used to treat malaria.
Age factor and co-morbidities made the task even more challenging for the doctors. The 69-year-old Italian tourist has an underlying lung disease. The 85-year-old patient, a resident of Jaipur, is suffering from diabetes, hypertension and renal kidney failure. “It was a difficult task for doctors. But, we used anti-viral medicines, which are safe for even pregnant women. It was the hard work of doctors and healthcare staff who worked round-the-clock and helped the patients in their recovery,” said Dr Sudhir Bhandari, principal and controller, SMS Medical College.
SMS Hospital’s senior professor (medicine) Dr Prakash Keswani is a happy man as he was the one under whom all the three Covid-19 patients defeated the disease. “We first conducted tests on Saturday. They both tested negative in the first test. For confirmation, we conducted re-test on Sunday and they both tested negative again. It is a proud moment for all of us as we used some common anti-viral medicines which helped in their treatment. We did not use any new medicine. The medicines are available in the market,” Keswani said.
“The Italian tourist has lung disease and he still needs oxygen support. He has recovered from Covid-19. But, for lung disease, he still requires treatment. The 85-year-old has the same situation. He still needs treatment for chronic kidney failure, diabetes and hypertension,” said Keswani.