Events & Personalities
Favipiravir to the fore
"There are so few treatment options (for Covid-19) that when a drug gives even a promising signal, it’s exciting news,” stated pulmonologist Dr Zarir Udwadia (pictured) to The Times of India (ToI) dated November 23, 2020. The chest physician was the main author of a study that found the antiviral drug favipiravir improved the "cure time in mild cases” by around three days, noted 
the news report. Reportedly, patients who took the drug cleared the virus 30% (or two days) faster than those on standard treatment. The study was published in the peer-reviewed International Journal of Infectious Diseases, noted ToI. The World Health Organization (WHO) in the previous week, however, had recommended that antiviral remdesivir not be used for severely ill coronavirus patients.
Trials were reportedly conducted from May 3 to July 3 among 150 patients at Breach Candy Hospital, with 75 patients given favipiravir and another control group some other drugs. The median time to clinical cure was three days in the 75 patients treated with favipiravir versus seven days in the control group, noted the study.
Udwadia was quoted in the ToI as stating "if the results from our study are validated by other larger studies currently underway in Boston and Stanford, favipiravir could have a role akin to oseltamivir (an antiviral used to treat influenza such as H1N1).”
The consultant was ranked among the top two percent from among 5,000 odd doctors globally in the field of respiratory medicine. The database was created by experts at Stanford University, led by Dr John Ioannidis, professor of epidemiology and population health. The Indian Express (IE) of November 4 stated that the database was created on the basis of standardized indicators such as information of citations, co-authorship and a composite indicator including the number of research papers published and the number of times an expert is cited. Over 1,000 Indians of the scientific fraternity, including three other doctors in the field of respiratory medicine, have made it to the list, reported the IE.
Udwadia is a consultant at the P. D. Hinduja Hospital and Medical Research Center, Breach Candy Hospital and The B. D. Petit Parsee General Hospital. The doctor told the Parsi Times (PT) of November 14 that the recognition in the listing "came as a surprise… my primary job and passion will always be that of a physician clinician… The others on the list are in the main pure researchers or are attached to large public hospitals where the emphasis is on research first and foremost...
"Don’t let down your guard as yet, for the (corona) virus has not finished with us or gotten tired of us, yet! (This) is a once in a century medical pandemic which may not necessarily be the last that we see,” he told PT.
the news report. Reportedly, patients who took the drug cleared the virus 30% (or two days) faster than those on standard treatment. The study was published in the peer-reviewed International Journal of Infectious Diseases, noted ToI. The World Health Organization (WHO) in the previous week, however, had recommended that antiviral remdesivir not be used for severely ill coronavirus patients. Trials were reportedly conducted from May 3 to July 3 among 150 patients at Breach Candy Hospital, with 75 patients given favipiravir and another control group some other drugs. The median time to clinical cure was three days in the 75 patients treated with favipiravir versus seven days in the control group, noted the study.
Udwadia was quoted in the ToI as stating "if the results from our study are validated by other larger studies currently underway in Boston and Stanford, favipiravir could have a role akin to oseltamivir (an antiviral used to treat influenza such as H1N1).”
The consultant was ranked among the top two percent from among 5,000 odd doctors globally in the field of respiratory medicine. The database was created by experts at Stanford University, led by Dr John Ioannidis, professor of epidemiology and population health. The Indian Express (IE) of November 4 stated that the database was created on the basis of standardized indicators such as information of citations, co-authorship and a composite indicator including the number of research papers published and the number of times an expert is cited. Over 1,000 Indians of the scientific fraternity, including three other doctors in the field of respiratory medicine, have made it to the list, reported the IE.
Udwadia is a consultant at the P. D. Hinduja Hospital and Medical Research Center, Breach Candy Hospital and The B. D. Petit Parsee General Hospital. The doctor told the Parsi Times (PT) of November 14 that the recognition in the listing "came as a surprise… my primary job and passion will always be that of a physician clinician… The others on the list are in the main pure researchers or are attached to large public hospitals where the emphasis is on research first and foremost...
"Don’t let down your guard as yet, for the (corona) virus has not finished with us or gotten tired of us, yet! (This) is a once in a century medical pandemic which may not necessarily be the last that we see,” he told PT.
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