- The new indications are aimed at hospitalized people in serious or critical condition.
- Until now, there are 541 million cases and 6.32 million deaths worldwide due to Covid-19.
- In recent weeks, the transmission of the disease has increased in several countries such as Mexico.
Since its foundation in 1948, the World Health Organization (WHO) has remained the highest authority in the field at a global level. Its central objective is the improvement and maintenance of health in all its member countries. While it also stands out for the constant proposal of alternatives for the solution of various problems. With this in mind, he introduced new guidelines regarding the management of patients with Covid-19.
In that sense, a little over two years ago, the first contagion of this new disease was registered. Based on the records, the December 31, 2019, the existence of an unknown infection was announced. At first it was said to be atypical pneumonia, but later it was seen to be something totally different.
From then on the world changed forever. While he also pushed investigations to levels never seen before. The sum of the efforts and the previous investigations allowed to obtain a vaccine in record time.
For its part, the official count indicates that so far there are 541 million cases and 6.32 million deaths worldwide. The most worrying thing is that in recent weeks the transmission of the disease has accelerated in several countries.
Proposed changes in the updated edition
Now, thanks to current knowledge, the WHO published three new guidelines for the management of Covid-19 patients. These are indications for hospitalized people in serious or critical condition and are the following:
- Conditional recommendation to use high-flow nasal oxygen in hospitalized patients with severe or critical COVID-19 and acute hypoxemic respiratory failure who do not need emergency intubation instead of standard oxygen therapy
- Conditional recommendation to use continuous positive airway pressure in hospitalized patients with severe or critical COVID-19 and acute hypoxemic respiratory failure who do not require emergency intubation instead of standard oxygen therapy.
- Conditional recommendation to use non-invasive ventilation in hospitalized patients with severe or critical COVID-19 and acute hypoxemic respiratory failure who do not need emergency intubation instead of standard oxygen therapy.
These new guidelines are part of the fourth edition of the clinical guide for the management of Covid-19. Guidelines on the use of drugs for use in patients are included in a separate WHO document.
- The first version, published on May 27, 2020, was originally published under the title Clinical Management of COVID-19: Interim Guidance, May 27, 2020.
- The second version was published on January 25, 2021.
- The third version appeared on November 23, 2021.
While the fourth and most recent was published on June 23, 2022.