The American College of Physicians (ACP) updated its Rapid, Living Practice Points on the use of antiviral remdesivir for Covid-19 patients to encourage targeting patients for its use based on respiratory support requirements rather than by disease severity.
The ACP’s original Practice Points, which were initially published in October 2020, supported use of remdesivir for five days in patients with moderate Covid-19 or patients with severe disease who did not require respiratory support, recommending extending treatment to 10 days in patients with severe Covid-19 who required mechanical ventilation or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) within five days.
In this latest update, titled “Should Remdesivir Be Used for the Treatment of Patients With Covid-19? Rapid, Living Practice Points from the American College of Physicians (Version 2),” the ACP recommended the following:
- Consider remdesivir for 5 days to treat hospitalized patients with Covid-19 who do not require mechanical ventilation or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO).
- Consider extending the use of remdesivir to 10 days to treat hospitalized patients with Covid-19 who require mechanical ventilation or ECMO within a 5-day course.
- Avoid initiating remdesivir to treat hospitalized patients with Covid-19 who are already on mechanical ventilation or ECMO.
The ACP pointed out that these updated recommendations specify that remdesivir should only be used in hospitalized patients with Covid-19, in accordance with the FDA approval that was issued following the release of the original Practice Points.
“This update represents current information related to the use of remdesivir,” said Jacqueline W. Fincher, MD, MACP, president of the ACP, in a press release, “and specifically as it relates to its use for patients who are already hospitalized and on mechanical ventilation or ECMO. While limited treatments for Covid-19 currently exist, there are patients in whom remdesivir is beneficial and should be considered.”
John McKenna, Associate Editor, BreakingMED™
Cat ID: 190
Topic ID: 79,190,730,933,190,926,192,927,925,934
