Sama warns against possible use of Cuban ‘wonder drug’

The South African Medical Association (Sama) has warned against the introduction of a drug used in the Cuban and Chinese arsenal to treat Covid-19 patients in those countries.

According to Sama’s Dr Akhtar Hussain, South Africa and other countries are in various stages of scientific experimentation for treatment of the virus. But in the main, Covid-19 treatment protocols resemble that of the treatment of pneumonia and was largely working in South Africa, whose recovery numbers were on the rise.

“What is being done to treat patients in South Africa, likewise in places like America and England is based on scientific evidence. What the president has come forward with as the national plan to deal with this pandemic, we support that 100 percent and we know that it is working because there is no cure for this virus,” said Hussain.

According to the medical doctor, up to 90 percent of patients considered young had been able to recover on their own, while the majority of those who experienced complications or died were either older than 60 or immune system-compromised.

“Death is high in patients with diabetes, high blood pressure, asthma, heart disease, cancer and other co-morbidities,” he said.

Sama was also critical of government’s decision to bring 217 Cuban medical doctors into the country, when doctors in South Africa were complaining about joblessness, and those working complained of unpaid overtime.

Cuba’s helping hand was part of the Central American nation’s efforts to assist 60 vulnerable countries around the world with medical expertise, equipment and medicine. According to Health Minister Zweli Mkhize, the doctors brought with them expertise in family medicine, infection prevention and control, case management, regulatory authority, epidemiology and surveillance, as well as health technology and biostatistics.

No mention of the so called “wonder-drug” Interferon and medicines the Cuban government claimed to have used together with China had been made as part of the South African mission. But the Cuban government’s foreign ministry took to its website to announce that the country’s global mission to help fight the virus included the sharing of medicines, including an Immuno-modulator known as Interferon Alpha-2b.

Cuba boasted a history of dealing swiftly with health disasters such as a Dengue fever outbreak among other viral pandemics in the 1980s. Known for its disaster management and its mass scale deployment of medical doctors globally, the country was among those at the centre of efforts to find a vaccine.

Despite not being proven by the World Health Organization, Interferon Alpha-2B Recombinant was among 31 drugs accepted to treat Covid-19 by China’s National Health Commission.

What is Interferon Alpha-2b?

Interferon alfa-2b is made from human proteins which help the body’s immune system respond to bacteria, viruses, cancer, or other invading substances.

Interferon alfa-2b is generally used to treat cancers like hairy cell leukemia, malignant melanoma, Kaposi’s sarcoma caused by AIDS, and certain types of genital warts. It is also used to treat chronic hepatitis B or C.

According to Drugs.com, side effects of the drug can include:

• cough, fever, trouble breathing;
• depression, irritability, confusion, thoughts about hurting yourself or others, or falling back into a previous pattern of drug addiction;
• vision changes;
• problems with your teeth;
• severe stomach pain with bloody diarrhea;
• sudden numbness or weakness (especially on one side of the body), slurred speech, problems with balance;
• heart problems–chest pain or pressure, fast heartbeats, sweating, feeling light-headed;
• new or worsened autoimmune disorders–skin problems, joint pain or swelling, cold feeling or pale appearance in your fingers or toes;
• signs of infection — fever, chills, body aches, cough with yellow or pink mucus, pain or burning when you urinate;
• signs of liver or pancreas problems — loss of appetite, upper stomach pain (that may spread to your back), nausea or vomiting, dark urine, jaundice (yellowing of the skin or eyes);
• Interferon alfa-2b combined with ribavirin can affect growth in children.

The drug is also contra-indicated in people with the following conditions:

• severe kidney disease;
• a blood cell disorder such as thalassemia or sickle cell anemia;
• an allergy to interferons or ribavirin;
• pregnancy;
• if you are a man and your sex partner is pregnant;
• cirrhosis or liver problems other than hepatitis;
• depression, mental illness, thoughts about hurting yourself or someone else;
• drug or alcohol addiction;
• heart disease, high blood pressure, heart attack or stroke;
• a blood clot in your lung;
• a bleeding or blood clotting disorder;
• eye problems;
• asthma, COPD, or other breathing disorder;
• diabetes, or a thyroid disorder;
• a weak immune system, low blood cell counts;
• colitis or other intestinal disorder;
• kidney disease; or
• an organ transplant.

– simnikiweh@citizen.co.za

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