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The New England Journal of Medicine published the results of the Solidaridad study, a clinical trial promoted by the World Health Organization (WHO) in which almost 12,000 patients participated in 500 hospitals in more than 30 countries, including Colombia, and which sought to find an effective treatment against covid-19 from existing drugs.
Specifically, the WHO expert groups analyzed the mortality rates of patients hospitalized for COVID-19 who received four antiviral drugs: remdesivir, hydroxychloroquine, lopinavir, and interferon beta-1a.
In total, 1,253 deaths were reported. “Death occurred in 301 of 2,743 patients who received remdesivir and in 303 of 2,708 who received its control; in 104 of 947 who received hydroxychloroquine and in 84 of 906 who received their control; in 148 of 1,399 who received lopinavir and in 146 of 1,372 who received their control; and in 243 out of 2,050 patients who received interferon and in 216 out of 2,050 who received their control ”, states the article.
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In conclusion, “No drug definitively reduced mortality, globally or in any subgroup, nor did it reduce the start of ventilation or the duration of hospitalization”, indicate the authors. And in that sense, the drugs analyzed had little or no effect on severe covid-19 patients, they finish.
The preliminary results of this study had already been published by the WHO in mid-October, but there were no exact data on the methodology or specific results.
As revealed at the time by the National Institute for Food and Drug Surveillance (Invima), the treatment arms of the Solidaridad trial evaluated in Colombia were Remdesivir and Interferon, in five authorized institutions: Clínica Colombia, Clínica Infantil Santa María del Lago and Clínica Reina Sofía (Bogotá); Sebastián de Belalcazar Clinic (Cali) and Iberoamerica Clinic (Barranquilla).
And in that sense, the only drug that according to the WHO has shown interesting results is dexamethasone. This drug (from the steroid family) is recommended for critically ill patients in hospitals who require respiratory assistance, in which it has been shown to reduce mortality.
(You may be interested: With the BNT162b2 the era of vaccines against covid-19 begins)
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