With over 2.5 million COVID-19 cases around the world, it becomes urgently necessary to find a treatment or vaccine to fight SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes the disease. An ambitious global project is looking for some answers, and Peru will start recruiting volunteers for clinical trials this week.
Although some preliminary studies have shown some effectiveness of certain drugs as a vaccine is prepared, more extensive and comprehensive research is needed to determine which drug therapy is the most suitable to combat this virus.
It is a collective and ambitious work that becomes urgently necessary in the face of this pandemic.
Peru is one of over 50 countries participating in this global experiment and will test four pharmacological schemes in COVID-19 patients, in addition to the standard care.
The recruitment of volunteers —among hospitalized patients who meet certain requirements— will begin this week after obtaining the necessary permits.
"It took two and a half weeks (to get the approvals from the
National Institute of Health-INS). Now, everything is approved, and the enrollment process is likely to begin on Thursday," said Eduardo Gotuzzo, specialist in infectious diseases.
"A clinical trial can take nine or ten months. We expedited all the paperwork electronically. The goal is to enroll (volunteers) quickly to obtain scientific information soon and find out which is the best and the safest (treatment)," Gotuzzo stated.
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Published: 4/23/2020