New Delhi: The brown eyes of a 6-month-old boy turned a deep indigo blue after he was given the antiviral favipiravir to treat COVID-19. This is not the first time doctors have reported a patient’s eyes changing colour after they prescribed favipiravir for COVID-19, according to a report in LiveScience.
What is favipiravir?
Favipiravir is an antiviral used to kill a variety of viruses, including influenza and Ebola, by stopping the germs from replicating their genetic material. It specifically works on viruses that use RNA, a molecular cousin of DNA, as their genetic material; as viruses make copies of their RNA, the drug inserts itself into the still-growing RNA molecules and causes mutations.