The Scientific Team of the Ministry of Health is positive about the adoption of colchicine in the treatment protocol for the treatment of COVID-19 disease, said to KYPE the Assistant Professor of Pathology at the European University of Cyprus and Pathologist specializing in Infection Control, Konstantinos Epidemiologists are studying all the scientific data for its possible inclusion.
The results of a large Canadian study on colchicine in patients with COVID-19, announced yesterday, show a significant benefit, with a 44% reduction in mortality, 25% in hospitalization and a 50% reduction in the need for intubation.
Dr. Tsioutis, who is also a member of the Scientific Team of the Ministry of Health, points out to KYPE that it is a safe and tested in several diseases, which reduces the inflammatory reaction of the body.
He further explained that colchicine is a drug that has a good safety profile, to note that there is a great deal of clinical experience, because it is an old anti-inflammatory drug.
“We have experience with colchicine in several diseases, such as pericarditis, arthritis, familial Mediterranean fever. We know this medicine. Adopting treatment therapies, in addition to other drugs, is easy. “What remains to be done is to look at the data in more detail,” he said.
He noted that “because it is a safe drug it is easy to adopt”, adding that the Scientific Team should see some details, such as which groups of patients should be administered, what is the way you monitor the patient's progress and response of the drug.
In the meantime, Greece has already included colchicine in its treatment protocol, while it is recalled that with the GRECO-19 study it was a pioneer in the study of the effect of colchicine in patients with COVID-19.
Under what conditions will it be granted in Greece
Colchicine in Greece will be administered in pill form, after medical evaluation and prescription and after a positive molecular test.
Colchicine treatment will be given to patients older than 60 years, regardless of whether they have underlying diseases, and patients aged 18-60 years with at least one underlying disease or fever greater than 38oC.
Colchicine will only be given with a prescription and monitoring and the concomitant use of erythromycin, clarithromycin, azithromycin, cyclosporine and verapamil is prohibited.
