COVID-19 treatments

Abstract

The race to protect against severe outcomes of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by SARS-CoV-2, has spurred the rapid development and authorization of novel vaccines and treatments worldwide. Individuals infected with SARS-COV-2 may experience a wide spectrum of symptoms, from nil (asymptomatic), mild (fever, cough, and dyspnea), to more severe clinical course (including acute respiratory distress, pneumonia, renal failure, and death). While uptake of the recommended vaccines exceed 83% (fully vaccinated) within the Canadian population, levels of protection vary, especially in patients with PID who have abnormal humoral and cellular immune responses. At present, there are 6 COVID-19 treatments authorized for use in Canada. These include (i) neutralizing antibodies targeting the spike protein of SARS-COV-2 to prevent virus entry into healthy cells, and (ii) antivirals that inhibit the ability of the SARS-CoV-2 virus to replicate. We provide here a brief overview of the indications and dose of the currently available treatments.