Chinese authorities included the drug Abidol in recommendations for the treatment of coronavirus

Amendment . Initially, the news reported that the Chinese authorities recommended treating coronavirus with Arbidol. In other sources , its name is given as "Abidol". The Bell edition, citing three sinologists, writes that the name of the drug is still translated from Chinese as "Arbidol".

The National Health Commission of China has included the drug "Abidol" in the preliminary plan for the treatment of coronavirus infection COVID-19. Information about this is posted on the website of the department. to it The Bell edition drew attention , which reported that we are talking about the drug "Arbidol".

In addition to Abidol, chloroquine is recommended for experimental treatment, as well as ribavirin in combination with interferon or lopinavir / ritonavir.

All these medicines are mentioned in the sixth preliminary version of the national program for the diagnosis and treatment of coronavirus, which was published on the website of the National Health Commission of China on February 19.

The previous, fifth version of the national program, which was in effect on February 5, mentioned interferon, ribavirin and lopinavir/ritonavir. At the same time, it said that at the moment there are no drugs with proven effectiveness against coronavirus infection. From the sixth version, this phrase was excluded.

• So far , there are no drugs that have proven effective in the treatment of a new coronavirus infection. All medicines that are included in the national recommendations of different countries for the treatment of COVID-19 can only theoretically have some effect. The World Health Organization considers it normal to use such drugs in these situations.
• Arbidol is the trade name for the antiviral drug umifenovir, developed in the USSR. Its effectiveness and safety have not been proven in studies conducted according to international quality standards. Despite this, in Russia, umifenovir is included in the government list of vital and essential drugs.
• Against the backdrop of the spread of COVID-19 infection, Arbidol in Russia began to be advertised as a remedy for coronavirus. The manufacturer was complained to the Federal Antimonopoly Service.