The question of the day | What is known about the antiviral for non-severe cases of COVID-19 recommended by the WHO?

For some time we have been hearing about new therapies that are appearing, to attend to the different cases of COVID-19 that appear in the world. This week, the WHO recommended the use of the antiviral paxlovid from the Pfizer laboratory for COVID-19 patients with mild symptoms, but with “increased risk of hospitalization.”

This WHO recommendation is made based on two trials, involving almost 3,100 patients, showing that paxlovid reduced the risk of hospitalization by 85%. Paxlovid is administered orally for five days and, especially, less than five days from the onset of symptoms.

The indications are valid for people over 18 years of age and do not apply to pregnant or lactating women. Nor to patients with low risk of complications because the positive effects are minimal. For WHO experts, this pill can be considered a “drug of choice” for unvaccinated, elderly or immunocompromised patients.