Last Updated on May 23, 2020, 9:30 AM AST by Anthony Morris
Cuba has said this week that the use of two drugs produced by the country’ ss biotech industry which reduce the hyper-inflammation in the severely ill COVID-19 patients had curbed its coronavirus-related death toll sharply.
The Cuban Health authorities have reported that the country has had just two virus-related deaths over the last nine days from out of more than 200 active cases in the country, a sign that the drugs may have the outbreak under control.
The Government of the island-nation hopes to increase the biopharmaceutical exports, and it has touted several drugs that it produces for preventing infection with the new coronavirus and also for treating the COVID-19 disease it causes.
It has shown the recent reduction in the number of deaths of severely ill COVID-19 patients because of the use of two drugs which appear to help calm the “cytokine storm,” which is a dangerous overresponse by the human immune system in which it attacks healthy tissues of the body as well as the invading virus.
One of these drugs is itolizumab, which is a monoclonal antibody produced in Cuba and other places. The other drug is a peptide which Cuba says its biotech industry has discovered and has been testing it for rheumatoid arthritis in Phase II clinical trials.
Scientists have warned that extensive placebo-controlled studies would be required to assess the safety of these drugs for treating the COVID-19 disease.
Cuba’s experimental treatments have helped the country to achieve an overall COVID-19 death rate of 4.2%, which is far lower in comparison to the regional and global averages of 5.9% and 6.6%, respectively.
Fatality rates due to the virus, depends on many variables, which include quality of healthcare systems, the rate of testing, and age and underlying health conditions of the population of the country.
Official data shows that Cuba, with universal healthcare and a well-staffed care system, has done very well in containing the coronavirus outbreak.
Anthony Morris covers stories related to politics and regional developments. His in-depth reporting about governance and reforms makes him stand out in regional journalism, with a deep analysis of political trends and their impact on Caribbean communities.
