Study reveals drug used in Dominican Republic reduces covid-19 deaths

Santo Domingo – A new study puts the lid on a vox populi that health authorities are not listening to; there are cheap and readily available drugs effective against covid-19.

A study suggests that a high dose of an inexpensive, globally available anticoagulant drug reduces the risk of death in hospitalized patients who are moderately ill with COVID-19.

The international RAPID trial, led by St. Michael’s Hospital, Canada, compared the effects of a high therapeutic dose of heparin with a low prophylactic dose for patients with moderate COVID-19 and elevated D-dimer levels admitted to hospitals.

Heparin is widely used in the country to prevent thrombus and coagulation problems in outpatients and hospitalized patients.

In hospitals, it is used in patients at risk of thrombosis, including heart surgery, heart infarction, surgeries with risk of thrombosis, and in hypertensive patients, when the patient has another health condition, such as venous thrombosis varicose veins.

In the Dominican Republic, the positive effect in treating covid-19 with Ivermectin, a low-cost drug used for more than 40 years as an antiparasitic, has been widely discussed. It has proven to be effective, especially during the first days of infection.

The study, whose information was published on the portal www.hospimedica.es, describes heparin as a universally used anticoagulant that prevents the formation of blood clots. D-dimers are protein fragments produced when a blood clot dissolves in the bloodstream; elevated levels of D-dimer indicate an increased risk of blood clot formation.

The researchers studied 465 patients in hospitals around the world. They found that while the therapeutic dose of heparin was not associated with a significant reduction in the study’s primary outcome, a combination of death, need for mechanical ventilation, or admission to intensive care, heparin dosage reduced death from all causes in moderately ill patients with COVID-19 admitted to hospital by 78%.

It describes that therapeutic doses of heparin are used for deep vein thrombosis or pulmonary embolism, while prophylactic or lower doses are used for patients admitted to Internal Medicine wards to prevent blood clotting while in hospital.

Several trials have explored the use of anticoagulants in COVID-19 patients because the virus causes increased inflammation and clotting in blood vessels, contributing to severe illness and death.

According to the science portal, the researchers hope this research will contribute to a change in treatment guidelines for COVID-19 patients and can make a difference in areas where vaccine availability or coverage remains limited.

“Our study confirms that therapeutic heparin is beneficial in patients who are in the ward with COVID-19, but other studies suggest that it could be harmful to patients who are in intensive care,” said Dr. Peter Jüni, director of the Center for Applied Health Research at St. Michael’s Hospital and co-director of the study cited by the publication.