Flu, HIV Drugs Appear to Help Fight Coronavirus: Thai Doctors

A Chinese woman puts a protective mask on a young girl as they tour the grounds of the Temple of Heaven in Beijing, China, which remained open during the Chinese New Year and Spring Festival holiday on Jan. 27, 2020. Kevin Frayer/Getty Images

Several Thai doctors said on Sunday they have seen success in treating severe coronavirus cases with a series of flu and HIV medications, with positive results coming in within 48 hours of treatment.

Doctors from Rajavithi Hospital in Bangkok told Reuters a new approach in coronavirus treatment improved the conditions of several coronavirus patients, including a 70-year-old woman from China’s Wuhan, which is considered the epicenter of the viral outbreak.

“This is not the cure, but the patient’s condition has vastly improved. From testing positive for 10 days under our care, after applying this combination of medicine the test result became negative within 48 hours,” Dr. Kriangska Atipornwanich, a lung specialist, told reporters. “The outlook is good but we still have to do more study to determine that this can be a standard treatment.”

He added to AFP: “From being exhausted before, she could sit up in bed 12 hours later.”

One doctor said a similar approach was used for two other patients. One suffered an allergic reaction and the other showed signs of improvement.

“We have been following international practices, but the doctor increased the dosage of one of the drugs,” said Somsak Akkslim, director-general of the Medical Services Department, according to the report. He was referring to influenza medicine Oseltamivir. “Initially we will apply this approach only to severe cases,” he said.

So far, Thailand has reported 19 cases of coronavirus. Eleven of those patients are still being treated at hospitals while eight have recovered.

Chinese officials placed Wuhan, a city of about 10 million people, and other parts of Hubei province on lockdown to enact a quarantine over the virus, while some locals in Wuhan have told The Epoch Times that the situation in the city is far direr than what the Chinese regime is letting on. Wenzhou, a port city located in China’s coastal Zhejiang Province, announced on Sunday that only one member from each family in the city can be out buying goods every two days.

Outside of China, Japan and Thailand have reported the most cases of the virus, with Japan recording 20.

On Sunday, White House national security adviser Robert O’Brien told CBS News that the United States has reached out to Beijing about potentially sending health care professionals to contain the outbreak. But China, he said, hasn’t responded.

“We continue to offer assistance to the Chinese. We’ve offered to send over CDC and other U.S. medical and public health professionals. And we have not heard back yet from the Chinese on those offers, but we’re prepared to continue to cooperate with them,” O’Brien said on Sunday.