Fri 14 January 2022:
On Friday (January 14), the World Health Organization approved two new coronavirus (COVID-19) treatments, amidst a sharp increase in the virus’s cases around the world.
Experts and scientists from all over the world are working to find treatments to reduce the risk posed by COVID-19 and its variants.
The latest approval comes as a number of countries experience a sharp increase in Covid cases, fueled by the ‘variant of concern’ Omicron.
\Now, arthritis drug baricitinib used with corticosteroids to treat severe or critical Covid patients led to better survival rates and reduced need for ventilators, the WHO experts said in their recommendation in British medical Journal the BMJ.
“The Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitor baricitinib, which is also used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, is strongly recommended for patients with severe or critical covid-19 in combination with corticosteroids, an expert group from the World Health Organization has written in The BMJ,” a part of the journal read.
Experts also recommended Sotrovimab, a synthetic antibody treatment, for people with non-serious Covid who are at high risk of being admitted to the hospital, such as the elderly, people with immunodeficiencies, or people with chronic diseases like diabetes.
The benefits of sotrovimab for people who aren’t at risk of being admitted to the hospital were deemed insignificant, and the WHO said its effectiveness against new variants like Omicron was “still uncertain.”
Only three other Covid treatments have been approved by the WHO, the first of which is corticosteroids for severely ill patients, which will be available in September 2020. Corticosteroids, which are cheap and widely available, fight inflammation, which is common in severe cases.
The arthritis drugs tocilizumab and sarilumab, which were approved by the WHO in July, are IL-6 inhibitors that prevent the immune system from overreacting to the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
Baricitinib belongs to the Janus kinase inhibitors class of drugs, but it follows the same guidelines as the IL-6 inhibitors.
“When both are available, choose one based on issues including cost and clinician experience,” the guidelines say.
Treatment with synthetic antibodies The WHO approved Regeneron in September, and according to the guidelines, Sotrovimab can be used for the same patients.
SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
FOLLOW INDEPENDENT PRESS:
TWITTER (CLICK HERE)
https://twitter.com/IpIndependent
FACEBOOK (CLICK HERE)
https://web.facebook.com/ipindependent
Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!
