CORONAVIRUS treatments are still undergoing clinical trials, with a vaccine being urgently developed by scientists. Researchers have now spotted a new symptom of COVID-19, and have urged experts to assess how drugs could impact the deadly virus.
Coronavirus is an infectious disease that has been confirmed in almost five million people across the world. Scientists have revealed that developing blood clots in the lungs could be caused by COVID-19.
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The UK has officially passed the peak of the coronavirus infection, the UK government has claimed.
The public has still been urged to remain indoors, in an attempt to curb the spread of the infection.
Despite nearing the final stretch of the COVID-19 outbreak, hundreds of people are still dying in the UK everyday.
Scientists have now called for urgent research into how anti-blood clot drugs could be used to treat coronavirus.
People infected with coronavirus are more likely to develop certain blood clots, scientists have warned.
These blood clots, which are known as venous thromboembolisms, are found in the deep veins of the arm, leg and groin.
They can travel up to the lungs, which can cause lethal complications.
More research is urgently needed to identify whether anticoagulants (anti-blood clot drugs) could protect COVID-19 patients from the deadly consequences of coronavirus, claimed scientists at the Brighton and Sussex Medical School (BSMS).
“Identifying which patients have a risk of, and clinical evidence of, a venous thromboembolism in COVID-19 is highly important for two reasons,” said lead researcher Dr Chi Eziefula.
“Firstly, because venous thromboembolism is linked to a risk of death, and secondly because it is treatable with anticoagulant medications.”
BSMS’s Dr Tim Chevassut added: “This study signals the importance of further research to explore the pathological mechanisms specific to COVID-19.
“It also highlights the urgent need for clinical trials to evaluate the role of anticoagulation treatment for the prevention of deaths and morbidity from COVID-19 infection.”
The experts analysed 274 coronavirus patients that ended up in hospital.
Eight percent of them developed a venous thromboembolism, while blood clots were spotted in more than 75 percent of them.
It was previously claimed that we could have hundreds of millions of vaccines by the end of this year.
Scientists from the University of Oxford are preparing to mass produce their own vaccine, which is currently undergoing clinical trials.
Meanwhile, the most common coronavirus symptoms include having a high fever, and developing a new, continuous cough.
Anybody that feels hot to the touch on their chest or back could be showing early coronavirus symptoms.
Similarly, anyone that’s been coughing more than usual for longer than a one-hour period, or if they’ve had at least three coughing episodes every 24 hours, should self-isolate.
Almost 250,000 people have tested positive for the coronavirus in the UK, and 35,341 have sadly died.
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