A World Health Organization (WHO) panel on March 2 backed the use of Merck & Co. Inc.’s COVID-19 antiviral pill for high-risk patients.
The World Health Organization updated WHO’s treatment guidelines for COVID-19 for the eighth time, recommending baricitinib for individuals with severe COVID-19 when used with corticosteroids. In other news, researchers from the Medical University of Bialystok in Poland identified a gene that appears to double the risk of severe COVID-19.
The drug hydroxychloroquine, once touted by Donald Trump as a pandemic “game-changer,” should not be used to prevent Covid-19 and has no meaningful effect on patients already infected, a World Health Organization expert panel said.
Gilead’s remdesivir should not be used for patients hospitalized with Covid-19, regardless of how ill they are, as there is no evidence the drug improves survival or reduces the need for ventilation, a World Health Organization panel said.
