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Updated November 20th, 2020 at 12:33 IST

WHO warns against Remdesivir use for COVID treatment, says 'possibility of harm remains'

A Guideline Development Group of the World Health Organization is not recommending the use of antiviral drug Remdesivir for hospitalized COVID-19 patients.

Reported by: Akanksha Arora
Remdesivir
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A Guideline Development Group of the World Health Organization is not recommending the use of antiviral drug Remdesivir for hospitalized COVID-19 patients as the authorities say that there is insufficient evidence as to if it improves survival outcomes. The recommendation was made in  BMJ – the weekly peer-reviewed medical journal, published by the British Medical Association. The high profile antiviral drug has received global attention in dealing with the deadly virus and is being used on a large scale for hospitalized patients. However, the WHO says, its role in clinical practice has remained ‘uncertain’.

Read: COVID-19 Lockdown Reduced Global NO2 Concentrations By Nearly 20%: NASA

Speculations regarding Remdesivir 

In a press release, WHO said, “Living guidelines are useful in fast-moving research areas like COVID-19 because they allow researchers to update previously vetted and peer-reviewed evidence summaries as new information becomes available”. As per the panel, the certainty of the evidence is low and it did not prove that Remdesivir has no benefit. However, as of now, there is no evidence if it does improve important patient outcomes. The recommendation by WHO is based on new evidence that compares the effects of several drugs on treating the virus. Also, it includes data from four international trials which involved more than 7,000 COVID-19 inpatients. 

Read: Mexico Reaches 100,000 COVID-19 Deaths

The WHO GDG expert panel which involved four patients who have survived the virus, said that administered Remdesivir “has no meaningful effect on mortality or on other important outcomes for patients, such as the need for mechanical ventilation or time to clinical improvement”. However, the GDG supported the enrolment of patients into Remdesivir evaluation trials in order to come to a conclusion if more ‘substantial’ evidence can be obtained. This comes especially with regards to specific groups of patients. 

Read: China's COVID-19 Vaccine Administered To A Million People: Official

Also Read: UN Says Terrorist Groups Exploiting COVID-19 Pandemic With Extortion, Bio-warfare

(Image Credits: Pixabay/AP)

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Published November 20th, 2020 at 12:34 IST

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