‘No hard science’ to prove Thailand’s drug cocktail healed nCoV patient — Duque

MANILA, Philippines — There is still no hard evidence that the cocktail of anti-virals administered by Thai doctors to a 71-year-old Chinese woman infected with novel coronavirus acute respiratory disease (2019-nCoV ARD) healed her of the virus infection, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said Monday.

In a press briefing, Duque noted that in China, 80 percent of confirmed cases of the virus infection were considered mild, meaning the chances of the host’s recovery is high, and that the remaining 20 percent of patients suffer severe conditions.

“If they say that there seems to be an improvement after 48 hours of using this, that is probably anecdotal,” said Duque.

Duque explained that it was possible that the Chinese woman who recovered from the disease was among the 20 percent mild cases.

“There is no hard science to prove this anecdote or theory. It’s a theory,” he added. “There is no science to prove it as of this point.”

Thailand’s health ministry on Sunday reported that the Chinese woman infected with nCoV showed improvement in her medical condition after being treated with a cocktail of anti-virals.

Specifically, the doctors combined the oseltamivir, an anti-flu drug, with lopinavir and ritonavir, which are anti-virals used to treat HIV. The patient reportedly tested negative for the virus 48 hours after receiving the treatment.

The ministry is awaiting research results that will prove the findings.

The World Health Organization earlier said it is working with clinical experts around the globe “to better understand, in real-time, the clinical presentation and treatment interventions” on the virus.