Microbiologist says potential COVID treatment a result of ‘medical detective work’

A cheap and common anti-depressant has shown promise as a COVID-19 treatment and could be a game changer, according to a study published in the Lancet Global Health Journal.

The study was co-led with researchers from McMaster University.

The drug is called Fluvoxamine, and University of Saskatchewan microbiologist Dr. Joseph Blondeau says earlier in the COVID pandemic, doctors began wondering why some patients didn’t seem to get as sick from COVID as others.

“They had determined that looking at some people with severe mental disorders that were on some of these anti-psychotic medications, the number of individuals that were actually infected with COVID was absolutely lower than what they had anticipated was going to be,” he said.

When the doctors began looking at hospitalization and ICU stays, the rates were lower even though some of the patients had a much higher risk of infection.

“It turns out that part of the explanation might be that some anti-psychotic medications have been shown to have anti-inflammatory properties,” Blondeau explained.

Putting it in the context of COVID-19, Blondeau said someone with a severe infection can suffer from a “cytokine storm,” where the body mounts a massive response to get rid of an infection. Part of that response can be harmful and can result in lung malfunction or multi-organ failure.

He says if there’s a drug that can mitigate that anti-inflammatory response, it could explain why those patients taking Fluvoxamine might not suffer more serious side effects.

The most recent study published showed a 30 per cent reduction in  COVID-19 infection, hospitalization and death.

He says all of the data collected begs the question of whether researchers should be gathering more data on anti-psychotic and anti-depressant medications and trying to understand if they offer something current anti-viral treatments don’t right now.