Scientists around the world are trying their level best to find a cure for the novel coronavirus pandemic which has wreaked havoc globally, claiming 83,713 lives and infecting 1,456,082 people.
Meanwhile, the colourless gas nitric oxide has emerged as the latest contender in the treatment for COVID-19. Hospitals in the cities of Boston, Alabama and Louisiana in the United States and in the European countries of Sweden and Austria have already started clinical trials on patients with with mild to moderate symptoms of the deadly virus.
The Nitric oxide relaxes the blood vessels in the body, increases the amount of oxygen and boosts blood flow which decreases the blood pressure. The gas is already being used to treat heart diseases, erectile dysfunction and respiratory illnesses.
Dr. Keith Scott, principal investigator at Louisiana State University Health in Shreveport told Boston Herald that they have tremendous confidence in the therapy and will alter the devastating effects of COVID-19. "If results show promise, and since this gas is already FDA approved, widespread use could begin immediately,” he added.
Dr. Lorenzo Berra, critical-care specialist at Massachusetts General Hospital, told Los Angeles Times that he wanted to try Nitric oxide on COVID-19 patients as it had showed promise during the SARS epidemic.
Earlier, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) had recommended the anti-malarial drug, hydroxychloroquine, for those involved in the care of suspected or confirmed cases of the coronavirus and also, for the asymptomatic household contacts of laboratory confirmed cases.
Following a quick provisional approval from the US Food and Drug Administration last Saturday, hydroxychloroquine, along with a combination of some other drug is being used in the treatment of about 1,500 COVID-19 patients in New York, the epicentre in the US.
