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Covid-19 task force revises treatment protocol, use of drugs

The revised guidelines, seen by Moneycontrol, stresses on avoiding the use of antibiotics.

March 20, 2023 / 06:08 AM IST
The revision of clinical protocol has been done at a time when India is witnessing a slight increase in new COVID cases in the last few days.

The revision of clinical protocol has been done at a time when India is witnessing a slight increase in new COVID cases in the last few days.

The National Task Force (NTF) on Covid-19 has revised the clinical guidelines for the management of adults under treatment for the disease.

As per the NTF, the revised guidelines do not advise the use of drugs like Lopinavir-ritonavir, hydroxychloroquine (HCQ), Ivermectin, Molnupiravir, Favipiravir, Azithromycin and Doxycycline.

The National Joint Monitoring Group on Covid-19 has also advised not to use convalescent plasma therapy for the treatment of adult Covid-19 patients in India.

The NTF, headed by Vinod Paul, Member Health, NITI Aayog, comprises officials from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Directorate General of Health Services and All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS).

The Task Force last met on January 5 to revise the clinical guidance protocol for the treatment of adult patients in India.

COVID-19 Vaccine

Frequently Asked Questions

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A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine.

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"The final revised guideline will be placed in the public domain as consultations with different stakeholders are complete," said a health ministry official.

The revised guidelines, seen by Moneycontrol, stresses on avoiding the use of antibiotics.

"Antibiotics should not be used unless there is clinical suspicion of bacterial infection. Possibility of co-infection of Covid-19 with other endemic infections must be considered," the guideline said.

The revision of clinical protocol has been done at a time when India is witnessing a slight increase in new Covid cases in the last few days.

According to the Union health ministry data, India saw a single-day rise of over 1,000 fresh Covid-19 cases after 129 days today (March 19), as the active cases increased to 5,915.

A total of 1,071 fresh cases were reported in the county in a span of 24 hours.

Ayushman Kumar
Ayushman Kumar Covers health and pharma for MoneyControl.
first published: Mar 19, 2023 09:20 pm