Drugs that could lead to more COVID-19 deaths-WHO
Drugs that could cure or vaccine that would prevent humans from contracting the coronavirus pandemic are still on the works and no apparent success has been achieved in this area. Though Remesdivir is said to be effective for hastening the recovery of the affected patients but the drug is still at the stage of a clinical trial.
While medications or herbs are also said to be able to treat the virus, many people have been self-medicating with the said drugs without proper physician’s directory on the exact dosage and this has led to some recorded deaths. But the World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday, said the increased use of antibiotics in fighting COVID-19, could lead to more deaths.
WHO director-general, Tedros Ghebreyesus, speaking during a virtual press conference in Geneva, said a “worrying number” of bacterial infections were becoming increasingly resistant to the medicines traditionally used to treat them.
According to Ghebreyesus, the inappropriate use of antibiotics during the COVID-19 would further escalate the trend.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has led to an increased use of antibiotics, which ultimately will lead to higher bacterial resistance rates that will impact the burden of disease and deaths during the pandemic and beyond,” he said
The WHO noted that only a small percentage of coronavirus patients needed antibiotics to treat subsequent bacterial infections.
Ghebreyesus added that there was an “overuse” of antibiotics in certain parts of the world, while in some other countries, such life-saving medicines were unavailable, “leading to needless suffering and death”.
Ayooluwa Joshua