Liponavir-Ritonavir
What was thought to be a very promising combination of therapies turned out not to have a huge benefit when studied in a large combination. This was recently published in New England Journal of Medicine, and is quite disappointing.
Chloroquine/Hydroxychloroquine +/- Azithromycin
Currently, these medications show the most promise. However, they are only being studied in the critically ill, AND they haven’t been “studied” in the traditional sense. That means, we don’t quite understand benefit and risk profile in patients who aren’t critically ill. In addition, using these medications in mild cases means that patients who need the medication for their chronic illness (i.e. Lupus) aren’t being able to access the medication. This is a harm to these patients. Please do not ask your physician for this medication if you are only mildly ill. We are weighing risk and benefit of these new therapies and having to take the greater good into account. Right now, the benefit DOES NOT outweigh the risk in mild cases, despite Donald Trump’s lay opinion.
Therapy aimed at Cytokine storm
There is a company that is targeting the cytokine storm that causes the severe outcomes of this illness. Again, very early—not much out there.
Trial
The WHO is launching a more scientific trial, described here.
The Vaccine
They have started human trial in a hurry. And as quickly as they are trying to get there, in order to safely do this, they have to monitor people for at least 14 months before they can say that this is safe to inject into the general population (so for all the anti-vax people out there—understand, we do not take this lightly, and this is happening much faster than typically makes people comfortable, but a vaccine, and herd immunity, is our best defense against any illness).