BHUBANESWAR: As two COVID-19 patients recovered and have been discharged from hospitals over the last three days, doctors at the Capital Hospital in Bhubaneswar have claimed that the combination of malaria, antibiotic and antiviral drugs have proved effective. The 33-year-old researcher, a native of the City, was discharged from the hospital on Friday after he recovered from the infection. With travel history to Italy, he had tested positive on March 15.

A team of doctors put the patient under the cocktail of a three-drug combination - hydroxychloroquine, azithromycin and oseltamivir. The drug combination was decided as per the protocol set by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) for treatment of coronavirus patients.

Though a three-member medical team led by a doctor of department of Pulmonary medicine treated the patient for nearly 20 days, they were guided by a team of professors of SCB Medical College and Hospital at Cuttack.

While oseltamivir is generally used for swine flu treatment, hydroxychloroquine is useful in the treatment of malaria. They treated the patient with 150 mg of oseltamivir per day, 500 mg of azithromycin per day for five days and 400 mg of hydroxychloroquine for two days and 200 mg for next three days. The Capital Hospital treated first and third patient, a 60-year-old banker, while the second patient, a 20-year-old student with travel history of the UK, has been discharged from AIIMS-Bhubaneswar after being successfully treated.

“Not only the first patient, the third patient was also put under the same medication. We provided them treatment as per the standard protocol. The first patient has already recovered. He was discharged after testing negative twice in 24 hours. The condition of the banker is stable. He will be tested in due course of time,” said a health official.

Sources said the first patient was suffering from diarrhoea and vomiting when he was admitted to the hospital. His blood pressure was also fluctuating. The doctors first treated him for these complications before starting the three-drug combination.

“Both the patients are gentle and cooperated with the team. Besides two rounds of visit, we used to keep in touch with them over phone so that we could counsel them properly. Mental fitness was important during the treatment period,” the official added.

The medical team did not fear handling the infectious patients as one among them had experience of managing anthrax, malaria and Japanese Encephalitis outbreaks in remote areas of the State. They dared the risks surrounding coronavirus as for them, the importance of managing Covid patients was paramount.