by White NJ, Strub-Wourgaft N, Faiz F, Guerin PJ. The Lancet 2021;397(10281):1262-1263. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(21)00469-4
Summary: In correspondence responding to the WHO Global Development Group guidelines on COVID-19 therapeutics, the authors make the case that assessments of drug efficacy in preventing COVID-19 and treating uncomplicated COVID-19 should not be based on data pooled with the treatment results of severely ill patients. Studies to date have found major differences in therapeutic responses according to disease stage. The evidence does not support generalizing the treatment results of hospitalized patients to mild COVID-19 cases, as has been done in the WHO living guidelines on COVID-19 therapeutics. The authors observe that prevention of hospital admission is a therapeutic priority in low-resource settings, which often have limited facilities for intensive care.
