Doctors at a primary hospital in Wuhan, China, have confirmed that HIV medicine is effective in treating Covid19. Doctors working at the Wuhan Hospital as saying that many of the patients diagnosed with Covid had been using the HIV drug Kaletra.
Doctors say the drug is effective. Kaletra is a non-patented version of Lopinavir / Ritonavir, a patented product by a company called Abwai. Zhang Dingyu, president of Jininthan Hospital in Wuhan, said patients were prescribed another drug, bismuth and potassium citrate.
These drugs have been prescribed for patients at Jintan Hospital since January 6. Jinintan was one of the first hospitals to treat it after the outbreak of Covid in December. By the time Covid reached the peak in Wuhan, there were about 500 patients treated. The hospital currently has 123 people under observation.
The study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine in March, found that Kaletra, also known as aluva, was ineffective for the treatment. At the same time, Israel has approved the generic version of Kaletra for treating those with Covid.
Zhang Dingwu replied that the list of patients who died without using this medicine and the number of patients who were forbidden by the drug were listed in the New England Journal of Medicine. Some doctors in Shanghai also certify that the combination of kaletra and flu-based arbidol and a traditional Chinese medicine is useful. She also mentioned that kaletra is one of the most effective drugs for SARS.
The complete success of the Kaletra is not guaranteed as it has not been fully researched. Zhang Dingyu, however, said Kaletra should be considered a useful drug to combat Covid.
