Why is there no anti-virus medicine?

Viruses must invade cells to survive and multiply, if killed the virus, the body cells are also damaged.

Dr. Tran Van Phuc, Green Po Hospital, Hanoi said the virus has no cells and no nucleus, so it is not considered a living entity. Depending on the species, the virus will enter the body through the respiratory tract from droplets, through eating, sex, open wounds . to enter the body. The virus then invades cells to survive, grow and reproduce. If independent from the environment, the virus cannot reproduce and develop on its own.

Therefore, there is no specific anti-viral drug, rather than an "indestructible virus" . Because destroying the virus causes the envelope protein to be destroyed, resulting in the same damage to the body's cells , "which means the virus has not been deadly but the virus can kill , " the doctor said.

"This became the truth before, now, as in the future," the doctor said. This is why Covid-19 has no specific anti-kill drug.

Typically, antiretroviral drugs mostly affect only one of the six steps of cell entry, which inhibits the reproduction of the virus in the cell.

For example, Ribavirin will provide nucleotide-like substances. When the virus replicates RNA or DNA, these fake substances will be used instead of the actual nucleotide, thereby not creating a new virus. Or Oseltamivir prevents new viruses from escaping from the cell. Therefore, Wuhan doctors used viral suppressants such as Remidiv and Remdesivir or Cloroquine to treat malaria, or Ritonavir, which is an HIV drug to treat Covid-19 patients.

"The use of such drugs, the media may be surprising, but it is not uncommon for physicians. But medicine always requires rigor, for a drug to be used routinely requires There is a very long experimental research process, which has a much higher failure rate than success, "the doctor said.

The vast majority of viruses are very small in size, from 10 to 300 nm. Individual corona virus size ranges from 80-100 nm. To see, the doctor must use 30,000 times magnified electronic optical microscope with many other auxiliary techniques to see. Like the covid-1 virus isolated by the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology, the size of the virus is 101nm.

Image of nCoV in the laboratory at the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology.(Photo: Hospital provided).

To combat the virus invasion, the human body constructs 3 lines of defense.

1. The first is through the skin and mucosa. The skin and mucosa form a physical barrier, preventing the virus from entering the interior.
2. The second line of defense is the bactericidal and phagocytic cells . Along with the early warning system, the body always has enzymes and phagocytes continuously patrolling, to destroy viruses and other pathogens from the moment they penetrate through the mucosa.
3. Finally, the immune system is also the strongest line of defense. When the virus invades a cell, the immune system immediately processes the information in a perfect way, identifies infected cells, then sends it to special warriors to destroy the damaged cell. In most battles, the immune system will win, but when the immune system malfunctions due to damage from a variety of agents, the disease breaks out.

Therefore, even though Covid-19 has not had any specific medicine, doctors can still treat patients from flu infection, dengue fever, measles, rubella .

The first is to prevent disease from getting infected, through personal hygiene, preventing infection, measures to prevent the community, and prevent and control epidemics. In addition, the doctor will treat according to professional protocols through symptomatic treatment, supportive treatment to maximize the body's immunity against the virus.

As of February 20, 16,433 Covid-19 patients were cured worldwide, Vietnam cured 15/16. The patient guarantees the principle of double negative testing."That is the evidence that modern medicine is able to overcome Covid-19," the doctor said.