COVID-19: Are Experimental Drugs a Cure or Cause?

Abstract

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a new strain of coronavirus. It is characterized by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). It has quickly influenced all over the world since it spreads easily. Common symptoms are fever, cough, difficulty in breathing and muscle aches. Despite the urgent need to find an effective antiviral treatment, already available agents are being used alone or in combination all over the world. At the beginning of the pandemic, death rates of infection caused by COVID-19 are high but "is COVID-19 responsible for all deaths?", or "are there any contributions of the frequently used drugs in this period to these deaths?" Surely herd immunity plays a major role and has contributed to the decline in mortality rates. Meanwhile, it is kept in mind that due to safety concerns, changes have also been made in the dosage and combined use of frequently used drugs. In this review, answers to two questions above and the safety of treatments, toxicities of agents involving chloroquine, hydroxychloroquine, remdesivir, favipiravir, lopiravir/ritonavir, sarilumab, tocilizumab, siltuximab, corticosteroids and bromhexine which are the most frequently used in Turkey and all over the world will be summarized. Among these drugs, favipiravir seems the most promising drug due to more tolerable adverse effects. More clinical trials with large sample sizes are needed to find the most effective and safe drug for COVID-19 treatment.