When will the world return back to normal? In recent years, people have questioned the longevity of the COVID-19 outbreak. While concentrating on vaccine delivery and vaccination capabilities, a pill has been developed in the hopes of preventing future COVID variations. Hopefully, the pill will eventually be administered to patients; this would make it the first oral treatment for the virus.
A current study on molnupiravir, an antiviral pill, has published data demonstrating that the medicine has the ability to lower hospitalization and fatality rates as a result of COVID-19. The study dealt with two groups of people. One group of 377 people were given a placebo, and the other group of 385 people were given molnupiravir to examine how the antiviral affected patients with COVID-19. The findings were substantial. Within 29 days of starting the trial, 14.1 percent of the group given the placebo were hospitalized. Fortunately, of the individuals who were given molnupiravir, only 7.3 percent of them were hospitalized.
Molnupiravir is a prodrug of N4-hydroxycytidine (NHC), a nucleoside analog (meaning that it contains a sugar and a nitrogenous base). 
Molnupiravir is similar to the genetic coding of the coronavirus’s RNA, as is remdesivir (a FDA-approved medication). By interfering with the polymerase enzyme, the “fake” basic elements impair the coronavirus’s RNA synthesis, preventing the virus from replicating. Despite the fact that the two medications serve the same goal, they serve different actions. Remdesivir penetrates a growing RNA strand, slowing and ultimately blocking the polymerase enzyme. Unlike the COVID-19 vaccine, the structure of molnupiravir gives it the ability to target the polymerase enzyme instead of the virus’s spike protein. Molnupiravir enters the cell and is transformed into RNA-like building components. The active medication binds to the genome of RNA viruses, setting off a chain of mutations; this process is known as viral error catastrophe. In simpler terms, it disrupts how the virus replicates RNA.
Molnupiravir could theoretically be administered as soon as a patient receives a positive COVID-19 test, thereby preventing floods of COVID-19 patients from overburdening medical systems while the highly infectious delta variant continues to spread. Although the side effects of the drug remain unknown, it has been reported that the side effects of COVID-19 are much worse than those of molnupiravir. The antiviral drug has the potential to save lives, but the primary concern is about the long-term repercussions. When contemplating molnupiravir, the fear of birth abnormalities or cancer comes into play because it is a mutagenic medication. In response, the drug’s creator, Merck, stated that there is no indication of the possibility for mutagenicity. Although the manufacturer is confident in the treatment and believes that the long-term consequences are insignificant, it is logical that parents might have concerns about molnupiravir.
Ultimately, if patients receive the vaccination that targets the spike protein and are also able to take molnupiravir, hospitalization and mortality rates may dramatically reduce.
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