New Delhi: The World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday included lifesaving interleukin-6 receptor blockers--tocilizumab and sarilumab- in its list of lifesaving medicines to treat severely or critically ill covid-19 patients. Patients severely or critically ill with covid-19 often suffer from an overreaction of the immune system, which can be very harmful to their health. The prospective and living network meta-analyses showed that in severely or critically ill patients, administering these drugs reduce the odds of death by 13%, compared to standard care. This means that there will be 15 fewer deaths per thousand patients and as many as 28 fewer deaths for every thousand critically ill patients. The health agency also launched an expression of interest for the prequalification of manufacturers of interleukin-6 receptor blockers.

Source: Mint July 07, 2021 07:18 UTC