How to take Arbidol for adults

2024 Author: James Gerald | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 14:00

Arbidol tablets are an antiviral drug with some additional beneficial properties. The instructions for use from the manufacturer positions the drug as non-toxic and safe for adults and children, which did not show negative consequences if the correct dosage is used for the prevention and treatment of viral diseases.

The price depends on the amount of DAI in the tablet. Complete industrial equivalents can be found under several brand names.

Prehistory of appearance

On the Russian pharmaceutical market, Arbidol tablets were the most popular antiviral drug 15 years ago, although competing companies claim that the drug's sales rating was high due to a targeted marketing campaign.

The legal ownership of the Arbidol trademark today belongs to Otisfarm Joint Stock Company, the largest company in terms of the number of sold OTC drugs on the pharmaceutical market of the Russian Federation.

Now Arbidol can be rarely found in paid top-ratings of antiviral drugs. But this tool does not need special advertising. The Russian consumer is well aware of its action, and as an additional recommendation, the fact that it was going to be released in the United States in 2005, when the first avian flu epidemic broke out there.

In the instructions for use, the manufacturer indicates that the use of the tablets is safe and effective for both children and adults.

Indications for use

Instructions for the use of Arbidol in tablets indicate the specificity of the action of DAV antiviral drug classified as fusion inhibitors. The peculiarity of the antiviral agent is to effectively prevent the penetration of the virion into the cell membrane of any cell of the human body.

This means that Arbidol can be used for almost any viral infection and achieve positive results in the treatment, prevention and weakening of the action of a pathogenic agent that has already entered the body and is in the incubation period:

• when pathogenic subtypes of viruses A and B appear in the body, resulting from repeated infection;
• in acute respiratory infection, the causative agent of which cannot be identified due to insufficient research;
• in case of infection with adenoviruses and rhinoviruses, as well as respiratory syncytial virus;
• if a coronavirus or parainfluenza infection is diagnosed.

The instructions for using the tablets also indicate additional positive effects from taking the drug: stimulation of natural immunity, which is safe even with autoimmune pathologies due to moderate activity, a decrease in the likelihood of re-infection, an increase in the intensity of macrophage activity and an increase in the number of killer cells to combat an aggressive virus.

In the international classification of drugs, Arbidol appears as Umifenovir - by the name of the active ingredient. At the time of its creation, the drug belonged to the Arbidol trademark, so the current name was not included in the register.

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Composition of the preparation

The drug belongs to ethyl esters of carboxylic acid with a complex gross formula and to the pharmacological group of antiviral drugs that are not used in HIV infection due to their immunomodulatory effect.

The main active ingredient, umifenovir, can be used as an adjuvant in the treatment of bronchitis of any form, pneumonia, influenza with associated pneumonia, if their etiology cannot be determined by laboratory tests.

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The instructions for use indicate that the tablets are available in cardboard packs, packaged in blisters. Each of them contains ten tablets of 50 mg for children or 100 mg for adults.

The dosage is calculated not according to the hydrochloride monohydrate, but according to the real amount of DAV - umifenovir. The rest of the components facilitate the absorption and dissolution of the tablet in the gastrointestinal tract. The instructions for use list potato starch, cellulose, povidone in the composition of Arbidol - standard additives in micrograms, usually used by the pharmaceutical industry and completely safe in adults and children.

The price of the drug may vary when sold in different regions of Russia, but the formation of the cost from wholesale lots is influenced by the content of DAV in a tablet - 50 or 100 mg, that is, children and adults.

Pharmacokinetics and therapeutic activity

The ability of umifenovir to act in several directions at once gives an excellent therapeutic activity of the drug in preventing infection during epidemics and reducing the number of cases of reinfection with a mutated virus. It is noted that the mechanism of macrophage activation and an increase in the number of killer cells makes it easier to transfer an existing infection and to counteract its development during the incubation period.

An additional effect is the stimulation of humoral and cellular reactions of the body's own immune system, but there is no noticeable effect on suppressors.

The instructions for use describe in detail the pharmacokinetics of the main active component of the antiviral drug. Umifenovir, when taken orally into the intestine:

• quickly absorbed and absorbed in the cells and tissues of the body, evenly distributed;
• does not have any toxic effect in addition to the toxins produced by the virus, unlike some other drugs with a similar mechanism;
• at the correct dosage, it has the desired effect, with almost no residue being excreted through the excretory systems - the main routes of transportation are bile secretions and kidneys;
• reduces the activity of the virus, preventing its penetration into the cell membrane through the lipid membrane.

Instructions for use strongly recommend that you follow the prescribed dosage, focusing on the situation that caused the need for oral administration.

On the first day of use for treatment or prevention, Arbidol is excreted from the body by almost 90%, therefore, at the initial stage, it is taken for a maximum of at least five days, and the duration of administration increases during the period of occurrence of mesonic epidemics.

Contraindications and side effects

Arbidol tablets are not recommended for use if the patient has an individual reaction of immunity to the active active substance or auxiliary components that make up the drug. The instructions also indicate other restrictions:

• children's age (tablets for children are prescribed from the age of 3);
• pregnancy in the first trimester due to immunomodulatory effects, which can lead to rejection of the embryo by activated immunity;
• if the patient has HIV infection.

There is evidence of possible allergic reactions, but the percentage of occurrence is negligible. Arbidol and other drugs do not come into opposition, therefore, the instructions for use indicate the unhindered use of the antiviral drug in complex treatment, even with massive drug therapy.

There were no cases of overdose with Arbidol, which had any negative consequences. When an allergic reaction develops or pregnancy is detected at an early stage, the drug is stopped.

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Analogs

The effectiveness and absence of side effects led to the huge popularity of the drug, but in 2007 the patent for the pharmaceutical company expired. This made it possible for other manufacturers to produce generics - full industrial counterparts under a different commercial name:

1. The Republic of Belarus produces Umifenovir under the name Arpetol;
2. in Ukraine it will be produced by the pharmaceutical company "Darnitsa" as "Immustat";
3. analogues can be found in the products of several Chinese concerns;
4. Holland offers consumers in Russia a Russian remedy called ORVitol NP.

The price of imported generics is naturally higher than domestic ones due to customs duties and transportation costs.

Umifenovir can be bought under the names Arpeflu, Arpetolid and Arbidol maximum. The price of children's pills starts in Russian pharmacies from 260 rubles. Adults can buy from 440 rubles. and more expensive depending on the circumstances and place of purchase.

Reviews

As with any drug used in complex therapy or prevention, consumers did not come to a consensus about the effectiveness of Arbidol. Some of them are confident that they have not felt any positive dynamics, but there are also die-hard fans who invariably resort to antiviral medication before potentially probable seasonal flu epidemics.

Both those and others are confident in the absolute safety and non-toxicity of a promising Russian development.

It should be noted that in the instructions for the use of generics, unscrupulous manufacturers indicate an earlier childhood age for the start of admission or the possibility of use during early pregnancy. The main active ingredient remains unchanged, which means that the list of prohibitions must remain the same.

Reception scheme

The instructions for use indicate that the drug is taken according to a certain scheme, which is prescribed by the doctor or taken by the consumer, depending on the existing need and the age of the patient.

In the first five days after the onset of the disease, the medicine is taken 4 times, orally, before meals. Children are given a one-time tablet of 50 mg, adults, respectively, are given a tablet for adults - 200 mg.

For a preventive effect, adults take two tablets once a day, children under 6 years old are prescribed one nursery, starting from six - also one-time - two children's tablets or one adult. With influenza, the maximum possible amount is given in the first five days, then the number of pills is gradually reduced to a single dose.

Bonus

The Russian drug is a promising development that has gained well-deserved popularity and can be safely used instead of imported generics released after the expiration of the patent:

1. During seasonal epidemics, Arbidol is taken to prevent disease or to reduce the activity of a pathogenic agent.
2. The antiviral drug has been on the market for almost two decades. He helped more than one million patients to avoid complications from the infection that took place.
3. In the instructions for use, the manufacturer indicates true information about contraindications and possible negative effects, but there are few of them.
4. You can buy Arbidol in a pharmacy without a doctor's prescription, but this does not mean that it can be taken in excess of the dosage or if it is not needed.