Antibiotics already in the market could treat coronavirus, Scientists claim

A group of Norwegian researchers at the Norwegian  University of Science and Technology  have suggested that antibiotics already available for sale  in the market may be the key to treating coronavirus. They claimed that anti-virals as well as four antibiotics that treat staph and skin infections have been able to stop the virus in lab tests, and suggested that these medications could be used as first line of treatment.

Denis Kainov, an associate professor at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim has suggested “repurpose existing drugs” to treat the virus, and according to Denis Kainov 

“Drug repurposing is a strategy for generating additional value from an existing drug by targeting diseases other than that for which it was originally intended.”

– Denis Kainov

“For example, chloroquine and remdesivir effectively inhibited 2019-nCoV virus infection in vitro,” they suggested .

Denis Kainov, now suggested that  scientists could also repurpose the following drugs Teicoplanin,oritavancin,dalbavancin,monensin,emetine  to help treat COVID-19:

 “[T]eicoplanin, oritavancin, dalbavancin, and monensin are approved antibiotics that have been shown to inhibit corona- and other viruses in the laboratory.”

– Denis Kainov

Doctors do not usually recommend using antibiotics to treat viruses.However, in this case, the researchers examined sought drugs that they could repurpose as antiviral agents.

However, World Health Organization (WHO) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and have warned that antibiotics do not work against viruses and that over-prescribing and overusing them helps to fuel superbugs.

It is important to note that there is currently no cure for this infection, meaning that health professionals cannot do much for people who have it. Although most healthy adults can rely on their immune system to fight the infection, the lack of cure or treatment for Coronavirus(COVID-19) is particularly worrisome for older adults and those with conditions such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, respiratory illnesses, and hypertension.