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Supportive Treatment

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Treatment

While the scientific community has known about the existence of coronaviruses for decades, there remain no licensed or approved therapies used in their specific treatment, nor vaccines to work as a preventive measure. As such, supportive treatment remains the most effective treatment measure for those patients affected. Supportive treatment involves the management of the symptoms of the disease, particularly with relation to pneumonia and respiratory tract infections associated with it. This includes various approaches such as respiratory and circulatory support, oxygenation, and preservation of the patient's renal, hepatic and neurological functions, working to prevent opportunistic infections, hydration, and the use of …show more content…

“To date, there are no clinical trials involving humans for virus specific therapies for MERS-CoV infection. Data regarding ribavirin, interferon and convalescent plasma are limited. Other medications, such as mycophenolic acid, chloroquine, chlorpromazine, loperamide, and lopinavir, have shown an inhibitory effect on MERS-CoV replication in vitro; however, in the absence of clinical data, these drugs are not recommended for clinical use outside clinical trials,” (Alsolamy & Arabi, 2015).

Certain treatments may even lead to the worsening of patient conditions such as leading to ICU admissions, mortality or increased viral loads, which makes further research into the treatment of the disease quite critical (Modjarrad, 2016).

While supportive treatments remain the main form of therapy, further research is continuing into the use of antiviral therapy particularly in severely ill patients. This involves investment and funding directed towards drug development, as few drugs currently exist for MERS-CoV. However, as (Modjarrad, 2016) notes, the outbreak of the Ebola virus served to accelerate research and development in the area. This remains in its novel phases as companies seek to either repurpose existing drugs or create new ones for use. As part of the research, "small interfering RNA molecules and peptide inhibitors are being investigated for their ability to disrupt

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