Internationally, the health agencies that develop tests for COVID-19 first need proper guidance, execution plans, and swift government regulations in order to efficiently deploy tests to the mass public. However, in the USA research labs are expediting this process and creating their own tests.
One of the most anticipated goals is to develop a serological test. This is a test that identifies the antibodies that an individual that survived COVID-19 has produced. The hope is that researchers would be able to extract antibodies of positive COVID-19 cases and infuse that plasma into a patient that is exhibiting symptoms of the virus. A major benefit of using this plasma as a treatment is that it is rapidly available and can potentially lessen the spread of the virus before vaccines are developed. Further, it is much more cost-effective to use plasma than drugs.
On the other hand, the FDA has approved of two drugs, hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine, as potential treatment options. However, this comes with a caveat. There is no proof, as of yet, that these drugs will effectively treat COVID-19 patients. Patients with underlying diseases, such as heart disease and depression, may be at risk of severe side effects which may prove to be fatal. Since many news outlets and the President have endorsed these drugs, there has been an increase in demand. This has led to people who usually take the drugs for lupus and rheumatoid arthritis to be unable to get their refills at the scheduled time.
- By Aashka Suvarnakar