ICMR's COVID task force drops usage of Ivermectin, Hydroxychloroquine

In a major development, the ICMR-Covid19 Task Force has dropped Ivermectin and Hydroxychloroquine from the clinical guidelines for the management of adult Covid19 patients.

New Delhi: In a major development, the ICMR-Covid19 Task Force has dropped Ivermectin and Hydroxychloroquine from the clinical guidelines for the management of adult Covid19 patients. The task force found no mortality benefit from Hydroxychloroquine whereas increases the risk of address drug effect (ADE) when co-administered with Azithromycin.

The continuous study also does not find any clarity in relation to mortality and clinical recovery in the case of Ivermectin. The task force, however, kept usage of Remdesivir and Tocilizumab for emergency use with certain criteria. The new clinical guidance management protocol released on Thursday night said that Remdesivir may be considered for use in patients with moderate to severe disease (requiring supplemental oxygen) and who are within 10 days of onset of symptoms.

Remdesivir is not to be used in patients who are not on oxygen support or in-home setting. The recommended dose for Remdesivir is 200 mg IV on day one f/b 100 mg IV OD for the next four days. On the other hand, Tocilizumab may be considered when there is the presence of severe disease (preferably within 24 to 48 hours of the onset of severe disease and ICU admission.

The guidelines said that Tocilizumab can be used when there is no improvement in patients despite the use of steroids. The task force has recommended the usage of Tocilizumab single dose 4 to 6 mg/kg (400 mg in 60 kg adult) in 100 ml NS over 1 hour.

According to the guidelines, if a person is admitted to ICU, an HRCT chest scan is to be done only if there is a worsening condition. An earlier study shows that the use of Hydroxychloroquine shows remarkable disappearance or reduction of the viral load when combined with Azithromycin in Covid19 positive patients. It is normally being used in the prophylaxis and treatment of malaria. Hydroxychloroquine is also used in the treatment of various autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematous.