Toronto: An international team of researchers has found that an antiviral drug -- interferon(IFN)-a2b -- can help speed up the recovery of COVID-19 patients.
Published in the journal Frontiers in Immunology, the study revealed that treatment with interferon(IFN)-a2b may significantly accelerate virus clearance and reduce levels of inflammatory proteins in COVID-19 patients. "Rather than developing a virus-specific antiviral for each new virus outbreak, we should consider interferons as the 'first responders' in terms of treatment," said study lead researcher Dr Eleanor Fish professor in the University of Toronto, Canada.