Living with Corona Virus

The month of Ramadan is at its end and we are preparing for Eid under the shadow of Corona Virus epidemic. But be prepared to celebrate Eid with courage and zeal as this sense would give you enough satisfaction to enjoy your Eid.

Now Corona Virus epidemic has engulfed every country on this Planet. Humans have witnesses 235 epidemics during their 5000 years history. Major being the Spanish Flu that appeared 1n 1917, engulfed every part of the world by infecting 50 crier people and taking lives of 5 crore victims. It stayed for more than 3 years.

Now after 100 years the corona virus has appeared and still there is no vaccine to counter it. Research is going on but mostly claims that it would take 6 months to 1 year. But some circles are saying that vaccine for Corona virus cannot be developed like vaccine for HIV that is still under research.

Economies are also in plunge and mostly people are staying at home with lock down or partially loosened lock down.

So at this point, question arises that what countries and its inhabitants should do right now.

The answer is that they have to live with corona Virus for an unknown period. But how!

The COVID-19 pandemic means that many of us are staying at home and sitting down more than we usually do. It’s hard for a lot of us to do the sort of exercise we normally do. It’s even harder for people who don’t usually do a lot of physical exercise.

But at a time like this, it’s very important for people of all ages and abilities to be as active as possible.

Remember – Just taking a short break from sitting, by doing 3-4 minutes of light intensity physical movement, such as walking or stretching, will help ease your muscles and improve blood circulation and muscle activity.

As countries introduce measures to restrict movement as part of efforts to reduce the number of people infected with COVID-19, more and more of us are making huge changes to our daily routines.

The new realities of working from home, temporary unemployment, home-schooling of children, and lack of physical contact with other family members, friends and colleagues take time to get used to. Adapting to lifestyle changes such as these, and managing the fear of contracting the virus and worry about people close to us who are particularly vulnerable, are challenging for all of us. They can be particularly difficult for people with mental health conditions.

It is the time to keep informed, Listen to advice and recommendations from your national and local authorities, Follow trusted news channels, such as local and national TV and radio, and keep up-to-date with the latest news from @WHO on social media.

Further!

• Get up and go to bed at similar times every day.
• Keep up with personal hygiene.
• Eat healthy meals at regular times.
• Exercise regularly.
• Allocate time for working and time for resting.
• Make time for doing things you enjoy.
• Avoid using alcohol and drugs as a way of dealing with fear, anxiety, boredom and social isolation.
• Use your social media accounts to promote positive and hopeful stories. Correct misinformation wherever you see it.
• If you are able to, offer support to people in your community who may need it, such as helping them with food shopping.
• Take opportunities online or through your community to thank your country’s health-care workers and all those working to respond to COVID-19.

More importantly Governments have to focus on rehabilitation of hospitals, health centers with all needed drugs and equipments. This would require incurring mainly on health sector that has always been avoided.

Since vaccine is not available so they have to rely on some available drugs that are also in transformation.

The drugs are!

• Chloroquine approved for emergency use by US FDA.
• Favilavir, the first approved corona virus drug in China
• Remdesivir (GS-5734) an ebola drug developed by Gilead Sciences that was found to be ineffective is now being tested in two phases III randomized clinical trials in Asian countries.
• China approved the use of Roche’s Actemra for the treatment of severe complications related to corona virus.
• The antiviral drug Galidesivir (BCX4430) has also shown broad-spectrum activity against a wide range of pathogens including corona virus.
• Regeneron, the combination of neutralizing monoclonal antibodies REGN3048 and REGN3051 is being studied against corona virus infection in a first-in-human clinical trial sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID
• SNG001 is a formulation of naturally occurring Interferon-β, which is administered through a nebuliser and is delivered directly to the lungs to reduce the severity of the infection caused by corona virus.
• Lattice Biologics is exploring the efficacy of its amniotic fluid concentrate, AmnioBoost, in treating acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) in COVID-19 patients. AmnioBoost was developed for chronic adult inflammatory conditions such as osteoarthritis.
• Abbvie’s HIV protease inhibitor, lopinavir is being studied along with ritonavir for the treatment of MERS and SARS corona viruses. The repurposed drug is already approved for the treatment of HIV infection under the trade name Kaletra.
• Lopinavir/ritonavir in combination with ribavirin showed reduced fatality rate and milder disease course during an open clinical trial in patients in the 2003 SARS outbreak.
• Cipla is also reportedly planning to repurpose its HIV drug LOPIMUNE, which is a combination of protease inhibitors Lopinavir and Ritonavir, for the treatment of corona virus.
• A licensed generic of Kaletra^®, LOPIMUNE is currently available in packs of 60 tablets each, containing 200mg of Lopinavir and 50mg of Ritonavir.
• Darunavir is a protease inhibitor marketed by Janssen. Anecdotal reports suggest darunavir as potentially having antiviral activity against COVID-19. It is, however, currently approved only for use with a boosting agent, and in combination with other antiretroviral, for the treatment of HIV-1.
• Janssen has no in vitro or clinical data to support the use of darunavir as a treatment for COVID-19. The drug is in the process of being evaluated in vitro for any potential activity against the corona virus.
• Further hospitals are gearing up to usethe blood of people who have survived from Corona Virus attack using corona virus–survivor plasma to treat people with the disease.