Filenews 15 January 2022 - by Marilena Panagi
As of Monday, the pill for the treatment of the coronavirus of the company MSD will be at the disposal of Cypriot doctors, which, however, is addressed to a few since it is not intended for administration to the general population. In no case is it administered preventively and certainly does not replace the vaccination since it is intended for people who are already infected with the virus and show symptoms.
According to official data, it is administered with special criteria and in cases where the person infected with the coronavirus presents severe symptoms, with the aim of preventing the need for admission to a hospital and certainly death. It is strictly prescription and will be available through the GHS, while it has an effectiveness of 30%-50%.
In its contraindications, among other things, and its administration to pregnant women and nursing women, while in women who belong to the categories included in the list of people who can take it and are of childbearing age, it is taken with simultaneous reception of contraceptive drugs both during and for a few days after the end of treatment.
Regarding the population groups for which it is intended, the deputy director of pharmaceutical services, Elena Panagiotopoulou, said speaking to "F" that these are people over 65 years of age and people over 18 years of age who face serious diseases, such as renal failure, immunosuppressed people, transplanted people, people taking biological agents or cancer patients who are in chemotherapy. Also, people with various cardiovascular problems, patients with a permanent defibrillator, people with congenital heart disease, with chronic intake of corticosteroids or immunosuppressants, etc." This is, he said, "a specific list that is included in the relevant protocol that doctors will have at their disposal in order to proceed with the prescription of the drug"."
Patients, Ms Panagiotopoulou added, "must take the medicine within five days of the day of symptoms developing and the daily dosage is four tablets in the morning and four in the evening."
Its administration, he stressed, "is prohibited to children, pregnant and nursing women, but also to women of childbearing age who, however, can take it if during its reception they also take contraceptive pills, which continue for 4 days after the completion of treatment with the pill for the coronavirus".
The protocol that doctors will have at their disposal, includes all indications, conditions, criteria and contraindications and at the same time doctors will be asked through the system to assure that they have carefully read all the information and have understood the possible side effects that may arise from the administration of this formulation. Doctors of all specialties who monitor people with health problems who are included in the list of beneficiaries in this case have the right to prescribe the drug.
"It must be understood," said Ms. Panagiotopoulou that "this formulation, like other formulations that we will have at our disposal soon, do not replace vaccination in any way, that is, we cannot use them to prevent infection and we should certainly not consider that we are safe because if we are infected, there will be a medicine to help us become well." The formulations, she said, "are another weapon in the hands of doctors to help their patients who develop severe symptoms and prevent them from being admitted to the hospital and this is of course very important."
Ready to take on the personal doctors
The protocol, according to information provided by "F", was expected to reach the doctors (personal doctors but also specialists of specific specialties) through the GHS's electronic system by the end of yesterday's day, after it had been sent by the Pharmaceutical Services to the Health Insurance Organization from early in the morning.
The GHS's personal doctors, who will undertake (to a greater extent) its administration, declared yesterday ready to follow all the recommendations in order for the antiviral formulation "to reach people who will really need it".
"As personal doctors, we have no problem in performing any medical procedure," the president of the scientific society of family doctors Andreas Polynices said in a statement. "I wish," he said, "that we could help as many people as possible not to need hospitalization, because it is very difficult to be hospitalized in an Increased Care Unit or to be intubated and admitted to an ICU. When we have the protocol at our disposal, we will definitely study it and follow all the appropriate procedures."
Mr. Polynices stressed that "we should not confuse medicines with vaccines. One thing, another the other. These are two completely different things that we cannot compare with each other. One cannot take the medicine so as not to stick. The medicine is administered after someone gets stuck and develops symptoms, and our goal should be not to get stuck, which we can prevent to a great extent with vaccination."
Infants and toddlers with coronavirus in Makarios
The number of children hospitalized at Makarios Hospital after being infected by the coronavirus has doubled in the past twenty-four hours. In fact, as the director of the hospital's pediatric clinic, Avraam Elias, said in his statements, during yesterday's day, one in three children who were hospitalized was hospitalized with coronavirus symptoms."
"These days there is the largest hospitalization of children with coronavirus, since they have almost doubled compared to two weeks ago," Mr. Elias said, adding that "usually they are young children under five years of age, although we have older children but usually it is the young children who have high fever, anorexia, malaise, some children may also experience feverish convulsions, and they are forced to be hospitalized." Mr. Elias said that hospitalizations of children with coronavirus have doubled, as two weeks ago it was about five. "The number has increased, we have the time with the largest hospitalization of children with coronavirus, and today we are hospitalized 10 children," he said. Hospitalizations range around eight to 11 children, he added. In response to a question about the "Omikron" mutation and whether it is detected in children hospitalized, he said that "according to a sample identification we made, the ''Omikron'' mutation was detected in six of the 21 samples and four were infants."
As far as the adults hospitalized with coronavirus are concerned, Health Minister Michalis Hadjipantelas said in a statement that he was waiting for the results of the relevant investigation late last night.
