Hyderabad: A doctor from Hyderabad has written a letter to Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) about an Indian drug that claims to cure COVID 19 disease and urged it to allow for its clinical trials. Dr. Pradyut Waghray, the Professor and HOD of Pulmonary medicine at SVS medical College of Mahbubnagar and Senior Consultant Pulmonologist Apollo hospitals jubilee hills in the city has claimed that the drug would be very effective in curing the COVID 19 disease.
In his letter, he said that the COVID 19 virus cases were increasing in the country and in the state. It was also found that 4 states in India, including Telangana, have the Virulent type of strain, he said while noting that most patients are developing mild symptoms of the disease and recovering. He also said that Patients with comorbidities like Diabetes, Hypertension, Chronic lung disease, cardiac disease, etc, were more prone to develop COVID 19 infections and it’s complications while reasoning that it was because of low innate immunity in their Lungs. Talking about the drug, Dr. Pradyut said that Pidotimod was an immunomodulator and immunostimulant, which increases the innate immunity of the Lung in the COVID 19 patients, by acting at the level of Macrophages, Dendritic cells and increasing the activity of the Natural Killer cells, which kill the virus-infected cells.
“Hence, I feel that this drug will definitely be useful in this vulnerable group of patients. It should be given to the Close, Primary contacts of COVID cases and also in the early stages of COVID infection in these vulnerable groups of patients,” he said. He is also the Managing director of the Kunal institute of medical specialties Pvt Ltd Basheer bagh in the city.
