TABLE 5.
Medicines used in the treatment of COVID-19.
| Drug name | Class | Mechanism of action | Adverse effect | References |
| Chloroquine and Hydroxychloroquine | Antiparasitic | Inhibition of host cell receptor glycosylation to block viral entry, acidification of the endosomal and proteolytic process. | High doses can lead to respiratory arrest, cardiac arrest, and hypokalemia. | Savarino et al., 2003; Yamamoto et al., 2004; Eze et al., 2021 |
| Lopinavir/Ritonavir | Antiviral | Inhibition of 3CL protease. Inhibition of viral replication. |
Risks for pediatric patients | Chu et al., 2004; Kim et al., 2016 |
| Remdesivir | Antiviral | RNA-dependent RNA polymerase inhibitor. Block viral replication |
There is no information on whether overdosing can cause any adverse effects | Hoehl et al., 2020; Li and De Clercq, 2020; Wang et al., 2020e |
| Heparin | Anticoagulant and anti-inflammatory | Heparin binds to the RBD of the SARS-CoV-2 protein S, inhibiting viral infection | Platelet count usually decreases to between days 5 and 12 | Kawase et al., 2012; Zhou et al., 2015; Hoffmann et al., 2020; Mycroft-West et al., 2020; Tang N. et al., 2020; Yamamoto et al., 2020 |
| Tocilizumab | Monoclonal antibody | IL-6 inhibiting receptor. Cytokine storm reduction blockade. |
Overdose-neutropenia | Guaraldi et al., 2020; Rosas et al., 2020 |
| Anakinra | Immune Response Modulator | Monoclonal antibody that acts against the IL-1 receptor | Rheumatoid arthritis (incidence > 10%) | Conti et al., 2020 |
| Baricitinib | Immune Response Modulator | Antiviral activity Inhibitor of clathrin-mediated endocytosis Janus kinases 1 and 2 (JAK1/2 inhibitor) |
Multiple adverse reactions |
Cantini et al., 2020; Richardson et al., 2020 |
| Camostat Mesilate | Antiviral | TMPRSS2 inhibitor that prevents replication Viral Blocks viral mutation |
Rash, pruritus, nausea, abnormal values from laboratory tests and diarrhea | Uno, 2020 |
| Molnupiravir | Antiviral | It works by inducing mutagenesis in viral RNA, causing the newly formed RNA strand chain to terminate | Mild adverse effects | Kabinger et al., 2021; Zhou et al., 2021 |
| Paxlovid | Antiviral | It inhibits viral replication at a stage known as proteolysis, which occurs before viral RNA replication | Absent |
Wang et al., 2020g; Ahmad et al., 2021; Pfizer, 2021 https://www.pfizer.com/news/press-release/press-release-detail/pfizers-novel-covid-19-oral-antiviral-treatment-candidate |