COVID-19: Increased antibiotics use to fight coronavirus will lead to more deaths - WHO
- The World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned that the increased use of antibiotics to combat coronavirus will lead to more deaths
- The UN health agency expressed concern over the use of antibiotics during the coronavirus pandemic
- WHO added that antibiotics is only needed to treat a small proportion of COVID-19 patients
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As the world faces the tough task of getting a solution to coronavirus, the World Health Organization (WHO) has said the increased use of antibiotics in fighting the deadly COVID-19 could ultimately lead to more deaths during the pandemic.
Channels TV reports that WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus revealed this on Monday, June 1, during a virtual press conference from the health agency’s headquarters in Geneva.
Tedros went on to note that a number of bacterial infections are becoming resistant to the medicines used to treat them traditionally.
While expressing concern that the unprofessional use of antibiotics during the pandemic would further fuel the trend, the UN health agency said only a small proportion of COVID-19 patients needed the medicine to treat subsequent bacterial infections.
He said that the increased use of antibiotics will lead to higher bacterial resistance which will impact the burden of disease and deaths during the pandemic and beyond.
Speaking on the inappropriate use of the medicine, Tedros noted that in some countries there was an overuse of antibiotics, while in low-income states the medicines were unavailable which led to needless suffering and death.
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Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that the WHO has ruled out the claim by Madagascar president, Andry Rajoelina's, that a herbal tonic produced in the country can cure coronavirus patients.
It should be noted that following the president's assertion, African countries such as Tanzania and Guinea-Bissau have made plans to import the said 'cure', which according to Aljeezera contains the artemisia plant, commonly used to treat malaria.
The dismissal is coming days after several media had reported that Madagascar is curing Covid-19 cases with the herbal tonic and is the reason the country has had a 92% recovery rate out of its 128 cases.
Madagascar is said to be using its own medicine to treat the virus. President Rajoelina launched the herbal tea, named COVID-Organics, on Monday, April 20.
In a related development, WHO said it has suspended the "solidarity trial" of hydroxychloroquine for Covid-19 treatment. The global health agency announced the decision on Monday, May 25, through its director-general.
Citing the study carried out and published by The Lancet, which had examined the effects of the use of hydroxychloroquine alone or with macrolide, Ghebreyesus in his address said WHO is unable to confirm the effect of chloroquine when used for Covid-19 treatment.
Coronavirus: Does the Madagascar cure really work? | Legit TV
Source: Legit.ng
