Question

6. The following is a type of the drug currently being tested to see if it is effective in the treatment of COVID-19.   

Anti-inflammatories/ immunosuppressives – ex. Actemra

explain how anti-inflammatories and immunosuppresives are being used to treat COVID-19 and how they work in general

Answer 1

The common symptoms of COVID-19 are fever and tiredness with dry cough. Some poeple may experience aches and pains, nasal congestion, runny nose, sore throat and diarrhoea in addition to the common symptoms. Most of these symptoms are caused by the inflammatory response or immunal response. So, by treating these patients with anti-inflammatory/immunosuppressives like Actemra, we are able to control the intensity of these synptoms and avoid the death of the patients due to the severity of the symptoms. The anti-inflammatories work by reducing the production of prostaglandins. Prostaglandins are the chemicals which promotes inflammation, pain and fever. The immunosuppressors are used in poeple who may have autoimmune disease in addition to COVID-19. If a person has autoimmune disease such as diabetes, his immune system attacks his own cells. Immunosuppressants reduces this and reduce the impact on the body. So, a person's life may be saved by using immunosuppressants.