Molnupiravir (twice a day, 800 doses each time mg for use based on the results of a randomized controlled trial published in ) The Lancet journal. However, patients treated with molnupiravir at home recovered more quickly than the control group. Previous studies have shown that molnupiravir is effective in reducing hospitalizations in patients with mild to moderate COVID-19, WHO recommends it for patients at highest risk of hospitalization. However, studies so far have been in largely unvaccinated populations and before the emergence of omicron variants. The new trial was carried out in a mostly vaccinated population in which most COVID-19 infections were the omicron variant, so is more applicable to the current situation in the UK. Molnupiravir, one of the more expensive antiviral drugs used to treat COVID-19, comes in a 7-day course The cost is about $700 in the US, equivalent to £577 (compared to around $530/£437 for a five-day Paxlovid course). Molnuvirapir was given directly to trial participants and could be taken orally at home.
“Although the trial found no benefit of molnupiravir treatment on its primary outcome – assuming molnupiravir treatment was used for vaccination, High-risk patients are less likely to be hospitalized or die—and this trial suggests that the treatment may have other benefits when used to treat COVID-19, such as faster recovery times and fewer follow-ups to medical services.”
“This could help reduce the burden on UK health services by treating selected patients at home, sometimes High disease burden and pressure on critical services. We therefore hope that this new evidence will be useful to policymakers as they develop strategies to manage COVID-19 infection during winter,” said lead author Professor Chris Butler, from the University of Oxford, UK. The study included 25,708 people over the age of 18 (mean age 57) who died or were at higher risk of dying High number of participants were hospitalized with COVID-19 infection in health centers across the UK. Patients were considered at higher risk of hospitalization or death if they were 50 or older, or 18 or older with related underlying health conditions. Patients have confirmed infection with omicron COVID-19 and were physically ill five days or less before starting treatment discomfort. Results represent those of patients treated between 8 December 2021 and 27 April 2022, when the UK omicron wave was at its peak. Approximately half of the patients (12,774) in the trial received 800 mg of molnupiravir twice daily for five days at Home in addition to standard care. The control group of the trial (12,934 people) received standard treatment only. The primary objective of the investigation was whether molnupiravir reduced the risk of hospitalization or death. Secondary objectives related to recovery time and symptoms (a program outcome measure that is less important than the primary outcome measure, but still relevant when assessing intervention effects). Patients reported results using an online diary during the 28-day follow-up period. No superiority in hospitalization or mortality was observed between molnupiravir and control groups. There were 105 deaths or hospitalizations in the molnupiravir-treated group (0.8%) compared with 98 deaths or hospitalizations in the control group (0.8%). Participants receiving molnupiravir reported more favorable outcomes for various secondary outcomes in this study. Patients taking molnupiravir had a median disease duration of 9 days compared with 15 days in the control group. Using a statistical model that took into account recovery timeframes in both groups, the authors found that patients taking molnupiravir recovered an average of 4.2 days faster than patients in the control group. In addition, 7 patients in the control group did not recover within 28 days of follow-up. Slightly fewer patients treated with molnupiravir sought further GP care after the trial (20% in the molnupiravir patients vs 24% in the control group). “As countries advance strategies to manage successive waves of COVID-19 infections, antibiotic resistance The problem cannot be forgotten. While ensuring that patients who are likely to benefit from antiviral treatments such as molnuvirapir receive them is critical; treating patients who are unlikely to benefit from antiviral drugs may waste resources by further increasing antimicrobial resistance, and expose people to unnecessary harm.”
“Our research therefore provides some insight into who should not receive these Newly discovered precious drugs provide valuable evidence proxies, enabling clinicians to make decisions based on strong evidence when prescribing treatments for COVID-19 infection,” said study co-author, University of Oxford, UK. Professor Ly-Mee Yu said.
The authors caution that the benefits and cost-effectiveness of molnupiravir use need to be considered in the context of healthcare service burden. Further health and economic analyzes are ongoing, and participants are still being monitored to determine the impact of molnupiravir treatment for COVID-19 on long-term symptoms. The authors also acknowledge that the open-label design of the trial meant they could not estimate any placebo effect of molnupiravir on symptoms . However, this limitation is unlikely to affect the trial’s primary outcome measure of non-elected hospitalization and/or death.
Professor Michael Kidd, Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care, Canberra, Australia, wrote in a linked comment, not involved in this Butler of the study and his colleagues acknowledge that their findings may not be applicable to clinically extremely vulnerable COVID-19 patients. We would go a step further and urge caution in seeking to apply the results of this study to those at highest risk of COVID-19 complications…While PANORAMIC did not provide power for secondary outcomes, secondary endpoints of this study have important policy implications. The trial showed that adding molnupiravir to usual care shortened time to recovery and reduced viral detection and load (in a small virology substudy). ” “Shortened and sustained symptom reduction, and impact on viral clearance, may be a concern for high-risk populations Important Considerations – At-risk settings, such as nursing homes, may minimize the spread of infection among high-risk populations. Molnupiravir may also benefit the health care system, especially during community surges, by potentially allowing health workers to safely return to work earlier. ”
More INFO:
Molnupiravir plus Usual Care Versus Usual Care Alone as Early Treatment of COVID-19 Adults at Increased Risk of Adverse Outcomes (Panorama): An Open-Label, Platform Adaptive randomized controlled trial, The Lancet (2022). www.thelancet.com/journals/lan … (22)02597-1/fulltext
Citation
: Treating COVID- 12 January 2023 from https://medicalxpress. com/news/2022-12-covid-infection-molnupiravir-quicker-recovery.html
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