Role of favipiravir in the treatment of COVID-19

The coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) outbreak all over the world has led the researchers to strive to develop drugs or vaccines to prevent or halt the progression of this ailment. To hasten the treatment process, repurposed drugs are being evaluated. Favipiravir is one such oral drug that was approved for new and reemerging pandemic influenza in Japan in 2014 and has shown potent in vitro activity against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2. It has a wide therapeutic safety margin indicated by a wide CC50/EC50 ratio for a high dose. From the clinical studies in COVID-19, it has shown rapid viral clearance as compared to lopinavir/ritonavir (LPV/RTV) and superior recovery rate than umifenovir. Overall, favipiravir has shown promising results in clinical studies in China, Russia, and Japan, and more trials are underway in multiple countries, including USA, UK, and India. Recently, treatment guidelines from many countries and some states from India have included favipiravir in the treatment protocol. This review provides insights into the evidence-based evolving role of favipiravir in the management of COVID-19 infection with emphasis on benefits of initiating an early antiviral therapy with special focus on favipiravir, its pharmacodynamic, pharmacokinetic, in vitro, clinical data, and inclusion in the treatment protocols of COVID-19.

Prevalence of hepatitis C virus antibodies in hemodialysis patients in madinah Al munawarah

This study was carried out to evaluate the prevalence of antibodies against hepatitis C virus (HCV) in our hemodialysis (HD) unit at Madinah Al Munawarah in Saudi Arabia. Fifty six of the 94 patients (60%) studied were positive for HCV, while none of the thirty staff members working in the same unit were positive. The positivity of HCV correlated significantly with duration on HD. No significant correlation was found with the number of blood transfusions, hepatitis B markers or liver enzymes.