On Sunday, Greece approved colchicine, a low-cost drug for heart disease, for inclusion in the protocol of oral treatments for patients with Covid-19.
The Ministry of Health’s expert committee gave the “green light” after the positive results of a large Canadian study involving Greece.
The study found that the administration of colchicine to Covid-19 patients “reduced mortality by 44%, hospitalization by 25% and the need for intubation by 50%,” said cardiology professor Spyros Deftereos, who conducted the study in Greece. coordinated, to Athens-Macedonia. Press Agency (AMNA).
The committee decided to include the drug colchicine for use in out-of-hospital patients.
However, in certain categories of patients with a positive molecular coronavirus test, administration will be on prescription.
These are all patients over the age of 60 who have undergone a positive molecular test, regardless of whether or not they have underlying diseases.
Also for patients 18 to 60 years of age with at least one underlying disease or fever over the age of 38 for at least 48 hours.
Canadian study
The study of the treatment of Covid-19 by colchicine was conducted by a team of researchers from the Montreal Heart Institute.
For Dr. Jean-Claude Tardif, who led the study, this is an “important scientific discovery,” he said. Colchicine is the first “effective oral drug to treat patients outside the hospital”.
“To be able to provide this, from Quebec, and for the planet, we are very happy,” said Tardif.
The ColCorona study involved 4,159 patients whose diagnosis of COVID-19 was confirmed by a nasopharyngeal test (PCR).
Reduce congestion in hospitals
“This is the first hope for patients who have COVID who are concerned and hope that they will not develop complications,” said Tardif. Previously, there were “no tablets that could be taken by mouth and the risks were reduced.”
Tardif said he believes prescribing the drug can quickly help ease congestion in hospitals and lower health care costs in Quebec and elsewhere.
“Our study demonstrated the effectiveness of colchicine treatment in preventing the great inflammatory storm phenomenon and reducing complications associated with COVID-19,” he said.
Since colchicine is a well-understood drug, it could be used very quickly to treat people with COVID-19, the researcher says.
“Colchicine is old as it is – we’ve been treating gout with it for hundreds of years – so it’s available in pharmacies,” Tardif said in French.
“So any doctor reading this can definitely decide to prescribe tomorrow if he wants to.”
Friday night, Quebec’s Prime Minister François Legault called the study “ big news ” on social networks.