Antidepressant drug fluvoxamine may help reduce COVID hospitalization, study suggests
A cheap antidepressant may help reduce COVID-19 hospitalizations and provide a more affordable way to stop severe disease, a study from Brazil found.
Fluvoxamine, typically used to treat depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder, can have anti-inflammatory effects and would cost only $4 for a course of COVID-19 treatment, compared to $2,000 for IV antibody treatments and $700 for Merck's antiviral COVID pill.
Published in the Lancet Global Health, the study of nearly 1,500 adults with increased risk for severe disease found 11% of those who received the pill were hospitalized compared to 16% of those who received the placebo.
An expert group monitoring the study recommended stopping it early because the results were so clear. The researchers are hoping the World Health Organization will recommend the drug as a COVID-19 treatment, which could help many poorer countries. “We hope it will lead to a lot of lives saved,” said study co-author Dr. Edward Mills.
States prepare to receive pediatric Pfizer-BioNTech doses ahead of full approval for ages 5-11
Some states are preparing to receive hundreds of thousands of doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 5 to 11 next week, ahead of full authorization by regulatory bodies.
The vaccines for children, which will be at lower doses than the adult vaccines, were backed by an FDA advisory committee earlier this week, and could receive full approval by as early as next week. The FDA will decide whether to authorize the child vaccines, then the CDC will make a decision on whether to recommend the shots.
Acting Assistant Secretary of the Washington Department of Health Michele Roberts said Wednesday the state ordered 230,000 doses to be delivered to providers next week, and an additional 86,000 doses are expected to arrive at pharmacies through a federal program.