Covid: High risk kidney patients in tapeworm drug trial

Prof Jeremy Hughes advises kidney patients to have the vaccine as soon as it is offered to them

Kidney patients in Bristol are being offered a clinical trial to see whether a drug used for tapeworm patients can help protect them from Covid-19.

The drug Niclosamide has been re-formulated into a nasal spray to be used twice a day.

Before the vaccine, data shows one in five kidney patients with Covid receiving dialysis or with a kidney transplant died within four weeks.

This trial is unusual because typically high-risk patients would be excluded.

Dr Fergus Caskey said if successful, the drug could be a game changer for people taking immunosuppressant medication

People eligible for the trial are those on dialysis, kidney transplant patients or those with an auto-immune condition affecting their kidneys.

It is an extension of the Cambridge trial, which began earlier this year, and is being offered in 40 hospitals across the UK.

Patients who wish to take part in the trial should speak to their consultant.

Prof Jeremy Hughes, a kidney doctor and chair of trustees at the Kidney Research UK, said: "Many of those on dialysis are having to put themselves at risk and attend their renal unit for life-saving dialysis treatment several times each week."

He said kidney transplant patients were also more susceptible to infection because they had to continue taking immunosuppressant drugs.

Kidney Research UK said in the trial, people would twice a day take one puff of the spray up each nostril, as this was where the virus could take hold and the delivery was likely to reduce the chances of side effects.

Dr Fergus Caskey, renal consultant at North Bristol NHS Trust, said: "If successful, our innovative trial could mean that the treatment becomes available to kidney patients more widely within months.

"It would mean they could receive their regular life-saving dialysis or take their immunosuppressant drugs without additional worry."

According to Kidney Research UK, about 64,000 people receive dialysis treatment or have had a kidney transplant in the UK.

Prof Hughes said: "It could even reveal a way to prevent Covid-19 in other vulnerable people."