Out the country at moment, but Thai wife saying this month they are recommending Favipiravir for those suffering COVID as was she earlier in month? She said it costs so much she opted to go without and the COVID passed in a couple of weeks or more by itself but she felt pretty ill throughout and is fully vacinated.

 

Does Favipiravir help at all? Where to buy? Whats the cost? Any other choices, besides roughing it out with nothing but paracetamol?

Who are 'they' ?

31 minutes ago, Hamus Yaigh said:

Out the country at moment, but Thai wife saying this month they are recommending Favipiravir for those suffering COVID as was she earlier in month? She said it costs so much she opted to go without and the COVID passed in a couple of weeks or more by itself but she felt pretty ill throughout and is fully vacinated.

 

Does Favipiravir help at all? Where to buy? Whats the cost? Any other choices, besides roughing it out with nothing but paracetamol?

I had covid about 4 weeks ago. I went to my doctor, who referred me to the hospital. The hospital prescribed a five day course (4 tabs every 12 hours) of Molnupiravir 200mg, which sounds similar. After only 1 day I felt a lot better. The cost was 1040 baht which included a course of paracetemol (for fever), some other tablets(can't remember the name) to break up phlegm (there was a lot) and a syrup for my sore throat.

32 minutes ago, Hamus Yaigh said:

Does Favipiravir help at all? Where to buy? Whats the cost? Any other choices, besides roughing it out with nothing but paracetamol?

There is debate over the effectiveness of Favipiravir, it is the generals who  pushed it in Thailand. Paxlovid and Molnupiravir will be helpful. 

 

I took exactly 10 doses of Paracetamol (3 and a half days)  to get over Covid, ATK tested.

I was given Favipiravir while I was in quarantine, my illness lasted 3 days, no after-effects. I was back exercising after 5 days. I am in the most vulnerable age cohort.

 

I can't say whether it worked or not. The hospital x'rayed my lungs on admission, said I had congestion typical of COVID. A week later, I was clear.

30 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

I was given Favipiravir while I was in quarantine, my illness lasted 3 days, no after-effects. I was back exercising after 5 days. I am in the most vulnerable age cohort.

 

I can't say whether it worked or not. The hospital x'rayed my lungs on admission, said I had congestion typical of COVID. A week later, I was clear.

If you were in quarantine, this was in the bad old days before the vaccines leveled the playing field?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Favipiravir
unapproved in US, UK, approved in Japan.
I was given this in quarantine in January, I don't know if it helped as I was symptomless to begin with.

2 hours ago, NanLaew said:

If you were in quarantine, this was in the bad old days before the vaccines leveled the playing field?

I got COVID after Sinovac and AZ jabs. October 2021. I am not one of the morons who claims that proves vaccines don't work.

My GF was in quarantine with me. She refused vaccination after social media posts from said morons.

My illness lasted 3 days. Sore throat, runny nose. She is 23 years younger than me, had the full gamut of symptoms including nausea, loss of taste and smell, fever etc. She was really sick for ten days. QED.

What baffles me about anti-vaxxers is their vocal opposition to COVID vaccines. At the same time, they probably have jabs for polio, tetanus, typhoid - a whole raft of inoculations. What's the difference?

Vaccines work, but in this era of constant misinformation on social media truth takes a beating.

 

Just keep taking all of the mRNA boosters as soon as they are available. CDC states to take the bivalent booster 2 months after an initial series which everyone had last year.  It looks like Moderna is recommending a booster every 5 months due to rapidly waning efficacy.  So to stay safe it looks like you'll need those mRNA boosters every 5 to 6 months as those shots may not keep you from contracting Covid (the CDC director Rochelle P. Walensky is fully vaccinated and boosted but has contracted Covid twice), but the shots are proven to keep you from dying in the hospital like the unvaccinated who end up expiring on a ventilator in huge numbers as is well known as well as infecting large numbers of people unlike the vaccinated..  So if you can't afford the expensive antivirals, then save up for the mRNA boosters.  Perhaps Thailand will keep providing them for free although Forbes says that Pfizer shots may increase to $110 to $130 per shot next year.  A small price to pay to stay safe when their antivirals are out of your price range.  So keep getting those boosters every 5 or 6 months to stay safe is does seem.  Listen to the experts in the CDC and the WHO who have nothing but the best interests of humanity in their hearts.  Better than dying on a ventilator which will happen to most of those dirty unvaccinated superspreaders. 
Safe and effective - keep those mRNA shots up to date.

The only control trial I have seen of Favipiravir did nto show any difference in clinical outcome.

 

It is available free of charge to Thai nationals. Have to get from a government hospital. Govt facilities also often dispense a Thai herbal treatment. Alon gwith the usual collection of poly pharmacy (paracetomol, vitamins, decongestant/amntihistamione).

 

Molnupiravir is available here and was shown to reduce duration of infection with prior variants, unclear if it works as well with the current variants which are in any case mild. I am not sure under what if any criteria Thai government facilities use it. Note that it is recommended only for  patients with the highest risk of hospitalization e.g. elderly or with other chronic disease.

 

No treatment other than symnptomatic treatment (paracetomol etc) is indicated for people with mild to moderate COVID who are not in these high risk groups. This is true even in countries with Paxlovid available, it has shown no advantage when used for non-high risk groups (because the risk of hospitalization or death is already so low otherwise).

 

That said, I would personally take redoxan (Vitamin C with zinc, can be gotten anywhere). Can't hurt anbd may help, in general zoinc shortens the severity and duration of respiratory infections.