WHO Updates COVID-19 Treatment Guidelines

The World Health Organization's Guideline Development Group has revised its recommendations for COVID-19 patient treatments through a panel of global experts. The updated recommendations offer reliable and current advice on managing COVID-19 and assist physicians in better decision-making with patients. These new recommendations were published in the journal The BMJ (1^✔ ✔Trusted Source
A living WHO guideline on drugs for covid-19

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Updated Guidelines on Treatment and Management of COVID-19 Patients

These guidelines were developed by the World Health Organization with the methodological support of the MAGIC Evidence Ecosystem Foundation.

The guidance incorporates the latest clinical trial evidence for existing and new COVID-19 therapies and takes account of evidence relating to safety, prognosis, resources, access, and equity issues, as well as patient values and preferences.

The updates include:

• Distinct risk categories to help doctors more accurately assess whether an individual is at high, moderate, or low risk of hospital admission and tailor treatment accordingly.
• A new treatment benefit threshold of 1.5% (down from 6%) reduction in the risk of hospital admission. This reflects the lower baseline risk for most patients with non-severe COVID-19 as well as more safety evidence and wider availability of therapies.
• A recommendation to use the antiviral drug nirmatrelvir-ritonavir in patients with non-severe COVID-19 at high and moderate risk of hospital admission.
• A recommendation against the use of the antiviral drugs remdesivir and molnupiravir for patients with non-severe COVID-19 at moderate and low risk of hospital admission (treatment is suggested for patients at high risk of admission).
• A recommendation against the use of a new antiviral (VV116) for patients with COVID-19 except in clinical trials, regardless of illness severity.

The experts say the new recommendations reflect changes in the virulence and transmissibility of circulating SARS-CoV-2 variants and sub-variants, along with changes in immunity related to global vaccinations, which have led to lower baseline risks of severe illness and death for most patients with non-severe COVID-19.

They acknowledge that there are still uncertainties around COVID-19 therapeutics and emerging evidence and say these recommendations need to be used in light of these uncertainties.

An interactive decision support tool is available to accompany this guidance.

Reference:

1. A living WHO guideline on drugs for covid-19 - (https://www.bmj.com/content/370/bmj.m3379)

Source-Eurekalert