South Korea experts recommend anti-HIV, anti-malaria drugs for COVID-19

[Desert_Leslie]

Source: United Press International

March 12 (UPI) -- South Korean disease experts have begun to recommend the use of a combination of antiviral and anti-malaria drugs for patients of the new strain of coronavirus.

Kwon Jun-wook, deputy head of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Thursday at a regular press briefing the recommendations come from multiple groups, and that the government is ready to apply the recommendations to patients "where necessary," Newsis reported.

The groups advised discretion among medical professionals, while recommending the administration of Kaletra, an anti-HIV medication that includes the drugs lopinavir and ritonavir. Kaletra blocks the ability of HIV to replicate itself, and also inhibits the growth of cancer cells.

South Korean experts are also recommending the use of hydroxychloroquine in combination with the anti-HIV medication. HCQ is sold under the brand name Plaquenil, among others, and is used for the prevention and treatment of malaria.

Read more: https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2020/03/12/South-Korea-experts-recommend-anti-HIV-anti-malaria-drugs-for-COVID-19/6961584012321/

---

DUers, I am not a medical professional -- but this is good news, I hope.

[ancianita]

1. Why not?! It looks as if it calls for a cocktail of viral drugs. I'm glad they feel they could help.

Even if this is leverage for later.

[Pachamama]

3. "Anti viral drugs"

[at140]

2. Unless those Meds are imported from China

I can't believe we cannot manufacture anti-biotics in US without ingredients imported from China.

[dixiegrrrrl]

4. Every dim watted twit head is gonna panic now, hearing only HIV...

"Oh my god, they are trying to infect us with that damn queer virus!!!!!!!!!!"

[flying rabbit]

7. Yep...

... I can see that.

[louis-t]

5. But trumpie knows more than these guys, so

don't hold your breath.

[sprinkleeninow]

6. Just contacted my PCP doc and gave staff this website link. She says thank you.

Doc most likely knows this, but patient/provider rapport is always welcomed. And interesting.

Thanks for the post. The second time I read regarding this recently. What if????

Oh My Dear God!!

[Desert_Leslie]

8. Me Too

Yep, I figure the doctors are buried right now. I sent it to my PCP also, along with a paper that came out 2 days ago entitled:

In Vitro Antiviral Activity and Projection of Optimized Dosing Design of Hydroxychloroquine for the Treatment of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)

You can find it by Googling.

In the paper they discuss the use of Hydroxychloroquine (brand name = Plaquenil) at more length.

Also, a really FANTASTIC resource is a YouTube channel entitled MedCram. Run by a multi-boarded MD who is great at explaining the nitty-gritty and keeping everyone up to date. That's where I found this Plaquenil info.

[sprinkleeninow]

9. Thanx for additional info.

They are covered up more than ever and it doesn't hurt to offer insight.

Good on you!

[roamer65]

10. Quinolones are bad news.

I am deathly allergic to them. Anything with “quin” in its name is usually a quinolone.

Ciprofloxacin is also a quinolone, with a black box FDA warning.

[elias7]

11. Hydroxychloroquine is not a fluoroquinolone

Nor is quinidine or quinine...

Most folks tolerate fluoroquinolones just fine. I believe the black box warning is for tendinopathy (like a spontaneous Achilles’ tendon rupture) and for a peripheral neuropathy. Very few people people get these side effects. Like most drugs, people can experience both adverse affects and allergic reactions. They are what they are. They save lives and for some the risks outweigh the benefits.

Maybe bad news for you, but not bad news.

[roamer65]

13. I experienced massive side effects from Cipro.

Don’t you ever minimize what I or thousands of others went through with that failed chemotherapy drug, regurgitated as an “antibiotic”.

[elias7]

20. I'm not minimizing what you went through

But you should not demonize something that has literally saved millions of lives. I don’t know that cipro is a chemotherapeutic agent, although I see it talked about in those terms on woo sites.

Oxycodone is great after you’ve had surgery for analgesia, but as an opiate, it is addictive and has killed people.

Penicillin can cause anaphylaxis, Stevens-Johnson syndrome, death... but for most, that is not what happens.

Beta blockers, calcium blockers, really any antihypertensive can kill

All meds may have severe life changing side effects

Medications are a trade off. Modern medicine is a risk benefit proposition and the extensive testing meds go through by the FDA as well as ongoing studies by clinicians make all medicines a work in progress.

You may have had a strong negative effect and I would not minimize that, ever. But to reject something based on a singular experience that few people have is like throwing out the baby with the bathwater

[Drahthaardogs]

12. Well I have chloroquine here at home

And plan on taking 500 mg/ day when I get sick. I have asthma so fuck it, may as well try

[Hassin Bin Sober]

14. This guy talks about how those meds help transfer zinc

Sounds like zinc supplements may be a good idea. Not so much as a treatment but to make sure you are not zinc deficient.

[melm00se]

15. Zicam

contains zinc and is one thing my father, as an MD, swears by.

it doesn't cure diseases but it absolutely shortens up the length of time the symptoms stick around.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

17. Yeah, my partner made me a believer. It works.

I wonder if it works by bringing zinc deficiency up to par.

According to the video, you need that other medicine to help saturate the cells. Either way, it’s better news.

I’d like to see how his hypothesis, that China has better outcomes due to that regime, plays out.

[melm00se]

18. One thing to bear in mind

is that zinc, in high doses, is toxic.

Because of this, the idea that if a little bit helps a lot is better needs to be curbed.

Additionally, if you take dietary supplements that contain zinc, you need to be really careful about using other products that contain inc.

Also, zicam, while there is some clinical (and anecdotal) evidence that it works, it has never been evaluated by the FDA

[Hassin Bin Sober]

19. Probably just going to take a daily to make sure the zinc is up to par.

I used to take a daily. I don’t know why I stopped - just laziness I guess. We have been eating much better the last several years so I haven’t felt like I’m neglecting.

My partner literally forces zicam on me when I start to get sick. For some reason he is under the impression I’m a big baby when I get sick. I just don’t see it. Lol.

We both had influenza type A in February. He works in a hospital so he got tested after taking a day off for not feeling well. It was when stuff was starting to get real around these parts. They sent him home with some tamiflu. I proceeded to get sick that night and had a prescription called in.

Now the dilemma is do I join this new gym that I’ve had my eye on? We just moved near Chinatown in Chicago. I haven’t worked out in a couple months with being busy with the move. So I feel like crap.

[scipan]

16. Thanks for validating what I got out of it

Checked that my multi does indeed have 100 percent rda so I'm good.