WHO updates its guidance on treatments for COVID-19

New recommendations reflect the evolving nature of the virus and the changing role of covid-19 therapies

2023-11-10

(Press-News.org) A panel of international experts representing the World Health Organization’s Guideline Development Group has updated its guidance on treatments for patients with covid-19.

The new recommendations published by The BMJ are part of a living guideline, developed by the World Health Organization with the methodological support of MAGIC Evidence Ecosystem Foundation, to provide up to date, trustworthy guidance on the management of covid-19 and help doctors make better decisions with their patients.

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 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 use of a new antiviral (VV116) for patients with covid-19 except in clinical trials, regardless of illness severity. A strong recommendation against the use of ivermectin for patients with non-severe covid-19 (advice against use of ivermectin in patients with severe or critical covid-19, except in clinical trials, still exists). 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.

END

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

UTHealth Houston researchers awarded $2.6 million NIH grant to study molecular pathways and potential strategies for treatment of myocardial ischemia and reperfusion injury

2023-11-10

A four-year, $2.6 million grant to study circadian rhythm and novel therapies to protect the heart during a heart attack or cardiac surgery has been awarded to UTHealth Houston by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health. Principal investigator Holger Eltzschig, MD, PhD, professor, and co-investigator Wei Ruan, MD, PhD, assistant professor, from the Department of Anesthesiology, Critical Care and Pain Medicine at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston, are studying translational, pharmacologic, and interventional strategies targeting ...

What human diseases can teach us about the immune system

2023-11-10

The immune system is a crucial part of our survival, regularly fending off wide-ranging attacks on the body, both internal and external. Unsurprisingly, the elegant defense system that protects us from viruses, bacterial infections, cancer, and other threats is immensely complicated. Each time it mounts a response, it must quickly and carefully orchestrate communication across vast numbers of cells and molecules. Jennifer Oyler-Yaniv is working to figure out how, exactly, the immune system does this — and when and why it fails. “There's always the next question, the next ...

Texas A&M researchers contribute to international project studying coronavirus transmission in humans, cattle

2023-11-10

Researchers from the Texas A&M School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences’ (VMBS) Veterinary Education, Research, and Outreach (VERO) program have joined an international team studying how coronaviruses are spread and whether an individual’s microbiome (the collection of microbes living in or on the body) might impact that transmission. Coronaviruses are a family of viruses that can cause a variety of diseases in many species, from the common cold and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in people, to diarrhea in calves and respiratory disease in ...

NASA’s Webb, Hubble telescopes combine to create most colorful view of universe

2023-11-10

Astronomers once again have combined the observational powers of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope and Hubble Space Telescope to create one of the most detailed and colorful portraits of the cosmos, just in time for the holiday season. The new image, dubbed the Christmas Tree Galaxy Cluster by the research team that includes Texas A&M University astronomer Dr. Lifan Wang, combines visible light from Hubble with infrared light detected by Webb to showcase MACS0416, a galaxy cluster about 4.3 billion light-years from Earth. Because the cluster is able to magnify the light from more distant background galaxies through a phenomenon known as gravitational ...

Ten 2023 postdoctoral fellowships in aging research awarded by the Glenn Foundation for Medical Research and AFAR

2023-11-10

NEW YORK, NY and SANTA BARBARA, CA — The American Federation for Aging Research (AFAR) and the Glenn Foundation for Medical Research are pleased to announce the recipients of the 2023 Glenn Foundation for Medical Research Postdoctoral Fellowships in Aging Research. This program supports postdoctoral fellowswho study basic research mechanisms of aging and/or translational findings that have potential to directly benefit human health. Selected through a rigorous review process, ten, one-year, $75,000 Postdoctoral ...

Mystery solved: how hummingbirds fly through gaps that are too small

2023-11-10

Soaring, wings outstretched, many birds sail through the air unhindered. However, species that dine on fruit, seeds and nectar must negotiate tiny gaps in cluttered foliage to secure a feast. To pass through apertures, many birds pull in their wings, folding them closer to their bodies. However, some of the most manoeuvrable aviators, hummingbirds, have lost the ability to fold their wings at the wrists and elbows. ‘Unless hummingbirds implement distinctive strategies to transit narrow apertures, they may be unable to enter gaps less than one wingspan wide’, ...

Hummingbirds' unique sideways flutter gets them through small apertures

2023-11-10

Most birds that flit through dense, leafy forests have a strategy for maneuvering through tight windows in the vegetation — they bend their wings at the wrist or elbow and barrel through. But hummingbirds can't bend their wing bones during flight, so how do they transit the gaps between leaves and tangled branches? A study published today in the Journal of Experimental Biology shows that hummingbirds have evolved their own unique strategies — two of them, in fact. These strategies have not been reported before, likely because hummers maneuver too ...

National analysis suggests that potentially serious complications occur in 1 in 18 procedures under the care of an anaesthetist

2023-11-10

New survey data from the 7th National Audit Project of the Royal College of Anaesthetists (NAP7) published in Anaesthesia (the journal of the Association of Anaesthetists) shows that potentially serious complications occur in one in 18 procedures under the care of an anaesthetist. The risk factors associated with these potentially serious complications include very young age (babies); comorbidities; being male; increased frailty; the urgency and extent of surgery; and surgery taking place at night and/or at weekends. This paper has been produced by a team of authors across ...

Study finds that laser epilation reduces risk of recurrence of pilonidal disease

2023-11-09

Laser epilation, commonly known as laser hair removal, reduced the risk of recurrence in patients with pilonidal disease, an inflammatory, painful, and sometimes chronic or recurring condition, according to research conducted by Peter C. Minneci, M.D., Chair of Surgery at Nemours Children’s Health, Delaware Valley, and published in JAMA Surgery. Pilonidal disease occurs when cysts form between the buttocks. It is believed to be an inflammatory reaction to hair or debris that gets caught in the crease of the buttocks. The disease occurs in 26 to 100 per 100,000 people and is most common in adolescents and young ...

The U.S. Supreme Court restricted abortion rights and public support for abortion increased

2023-11-09

A new study examining the effects of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling on Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization on June 24, 2022, which overturned Roe v. Wade's constitutional protection of abortion rights, finds that the American public's support for abortion increased after the decision. The findings were published today in Nature Behaviour. "Our results show the extent to which the Supreme Court is out of step with the American public," says co-author Sean Westwood, an associate professor of government at Dartmouth and director of the Polarization Research Lab. The study's findings were based on a large, three-wave survey before the leak ...

WHO updates its guidance on treatments for COVID-19

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES: