A cheap antidepressant may cut the risk of an unvaccinated Covid patient needing hospital care by a third, a large Brazilian study suggests.
Fluvoxamine — available on prescription in the UK under the name Faverin — is thought to calm down the immune system due to its anti-inflammatory abilities.
It belongs to a class of drugs known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, which are prescribed to about 70million Britons each year.
The drug, which costs roughly 29p per tablet, was trialled on nearly 741 people who tested positive within seven days and had underlying health conditions.
Patients were given a daily course of two pills for 10 days. Of those given the medication, 79 (10.6 per cent) needed hospital care compared to 15.7 per cent in the placebo group.
Writing in the paper, the researchers said their analysis showed the pills cut the risk of hospitalisation by 32 per cent.
They said the treatment could be used in third-world countries with little access to vaccines because it is ineffective and could help patients.
But experts not involved in the trial said it should be tested in vaccinated patients to determine whether it offers them any benefit and is safe.
Fluvoxamine — available on prescription under the name Faverin from 29p a tablet —was found to cut the risk of hospitalisations in Covid patients by a third
Fluvoxamine works by boosting the amount of serotonin in the brain, which can help to boost someone's mood.
Sotrovimab slashes hospitalisation risk from Covid by 85 per cent, study shows
A Covid antibody therapy slashes a patients risk of being hospitalised by 85 per cent, a study has found.
Sotrovimab — which is already being used in the US — was administered to almost 600 patients during trials shortly after they tested positive for Covid and experienced symptoms.
Among the 291 who got the treatment three were hospitalised.
But none were admitted to intensive care or died from the disease.
For comparison, among the 292 who got the placebo 21 were hospitalised.
Of these five were later admitted to intensive care and one died from the disease.
Patients in the study — published in the New England Journal of Medicine — were aged 65 years old on average.
The drug uses a man-made antibody to fight Covid and is administered by injection.
Tests suggest its antibodies work well against all variants as well as the original virus.
It is priced at $2,100 a dose, and is made by Vir Biotechnology and GlaxoSmithKline.
The US' Food and Drugs Agency (FDA) have already given it emergency approval.
And the European Commission has signed a deal to purchase more than 220,000 doses.
But in Britain no orders for the treatment have been made.
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