A survey conducted by a team of Rohtak PGIMS has found that patients, who are taking medication for hepatitis C or B, have not contracted Covid.
“The survey has covered more than 17,700 patients from different parts of Haryana. We have contacted 3,100 patients of hepatitis C and 600 patients of hepatitis B, who are currently on medication. None of the 3,700 patients have contracted Covid,” said Dr Parveen Malhotra, Senior Professor and Head of the Department of Medical Gastroenterology, Rohtak PGIMS.
He said their team also checked around 14,000 Covid patients and found that eight of them were positive for hepatitis C or B. Among these eight patients, four had stopped taking the anti-hepatitis medicines more than a year ago, while the other four were yet to begin taking medicines. “In a nutshell, no patient of hepatitis C or B, who is at present on medication, has been found Covid-positive so far, which is an indirect evidence of the efficacy of the anti-hepatitis drugs in the treatment of the virus,” he said.
Dr Malhotra said the surveyed hepatitis B patients were on Tenofovir, while the patients of hepatitis C were taking Sofosbuvir, Daclatasvir and/or Velpatasvir. A trial of anti-hepatitis drugs on Covid patients is about to commence at the PGIMS here soon.