Why Anti-Retrovirals?

Patients diagnosed with the common flu are often prescribed an antiviral drug widely known as Tamiflu.

But seasonal flu is “very different from the Chinese coronavirus”, said Sylvie van Der Werf at the Paris-based Pasteur Institute.

So far the new coronavirus has infected tens of thousands worldwide and killed more than 420 people, mostly in mainland China.

Two weeks ago Chinese doctors confirmed they had been giving anti-HIV drugs to coronavirus patients in Beijing, based on a 2004 study published after the outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) that showed “favorable” responses.