As the COVID-19 cases spurt in the country, the Union Health Ministry on Saturday issued a fresh clinical management protocol to deal with the pandemic.
As per the latest protocol, the Ministry has allowed the use of antiviral drug Remdesivir in moderate cases and Hydroxychloroquine for patients during the early course of the disease.
The Ministry has withdrawn the use of Azithromycin in combination with HCQ in severe cases and those requiring ICU management.
Loss of smell and taste have been listed under the COVID-19 symptoms catalogue.
It has also recommended off-label use of the Tocilizumab, and convalescent plasma therapy on specific groups of patients in moderate/severe stage of infection. Both are recommended to be used among patients who show no signs of improvement despite use of steroids.
It is to be noted that RT-PCR (reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction) is the only acceptable diagnostic test for Covid-19 for now.
The revised protocol stated 5.1 days as the median incubation period of the virus, with a range of 2-14 days.
‘The precise interval during which an individual with Covid-19 is infectious is uncertain. As per the current evidence, the period of infectivity starts two days prior to onset of symptoms and lasts up to eight days. The extent and role played by preclinical/ asymptomatic infections in transmission still remain under investigation,’ The Indian Express quoted.
Remdevisir was cleared by Drugs Controller General Of India on June 1, and is being processed as a treatment of suspected or confirmed cases of COVID-19 in adults as well as children hospitalised.
The drug is also a part of WHO’s ‘ongoing solidarity trials’, an actively-recruiting assessment that currently includes more than 3500 patients from 17 countries. It had also received ’emergency use authorization’ by the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) on May 1.
Tocilizumab, on the other hand, is an immuno-suppressant, which is generally used as a treatment for rheumatoid arthritis. The drug has already been tried on a couple of COVID-19 patients in Mumbai.
In convalescent plasma therapy, the blood of a recovered patient is transfused into another patient, as it contains neutralizing antibodies to remove the pathogens.
The therapy has earlier been used for several diseases, including H1N1 (Swine Flu), H5N1 (Bird Flu), Ebola. However, its efficacy for treating COVID-19 is still underway.
After recording more than 2 lakh cases in the last ten days, the country surpassed a 3 lakh mark on Saturday, with the highest spike of 11,458 infections, while the death toll climbed to 8,884 with 386 new fatalities, according to the Health Ministry.
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