On Sunday, Greece approved colchicine, an inexpensive drug for heart disease, to be included in the oral treatment protocol for patients with Covid-19.
The health ministry’s expert committee gave the “green light” after the positive results of a large Canadian study in which Greece participated.
The study showed that administration of colchicine to patients with Covid-19 “reduced mortality by 44%, hospitalization by 25% and the need for intubation by 50%,” said cardiology professor Spyros Deftereos, who coordinated the study at Greece to Athens-Macedonia News Agency (AMNA).
The committee decided to include the drug colchicine for use in patients outside the hospital.
However, administration will be done after a prescription in certain categories of patients with a positive coronavirus molecular test.
All of these are patients over 60 years of age with a positive molecular test, regardless of whether or not they have underlying diseases.
Also for patients 18 to 60 years old with at least one underlying disease or fever over 38 years old for at least 48 hours.
Canadian study
The study of the treatment of Covid-19 by colchicine was carried out by a team of researchers at the Montreal Heart Institute.
For Dr. Jean-Claude Tardif, who led the study, this is a “major scientific discovery”, he said. Colchicine is the first “effective oral drug to treat patients outside the hospital”.
“Because we can offer this, from Quebec, and to the planet, we are very happy,” said Tardif.
The ColCorona study involved 4,159 patients whose diagnosis of COVID-19 was confirmed by a nasopharyngeal test (PCR).
Reducing congestion in hospitals
“This is the first hope for patients who have COVID, who are concerned and who hope to have no complications,” said Tardif. Previously, “there were no pills that could be taken orally and reduce the risks”.
Tardif said he believed that prescribing the drug could help reduce congestion in hospitals quickly and reduce healthcare costs in Quebec and elsewhere.
“Our study showed the effectiveness of colchicine treatment to prevent the phenomenon of a major inflammatory storm and reduce complications related to COVID-19,” he said.
As colchicine is a well-known drug, it could be used very quickly to treat people with COVID-19, says the researcher.
“Colchicine is old the way it is – we have treated gout with it for hundreds of years – so it is available in pharmacies,” said Tardif, speaking in French.
“So any doctor who reads this tomorrow can definitely decide to prescribe if he wants to.”
On Friday night, the Prime Minister of Quebec, François Legault, called the study “big news” on social media.