Therapeutics and COVID-19: living guideline

Overview

The WHO Therapeutics and COVID-19: living guideline contains the Organization’s most up-to-date recommendations for the use of therapeutics in the treatment of COVID-19. The latest version of this living guideline is available in pdf format (via the ‘Download’ button) and via an online platform, and is updated regularly as new evidence emerges.

This fourth version of the WHO guideline now contains six recommendations, including a new recommendation regarding ivermectin. This latest update was initiated in response to international attention on ivermectin as a potential treatment for COVID-19. No further updates to the previous existing recommendations were made in this latest version.

The WHO Therapeutics and COVID-19: living guideline currently includes a:

• ** NEW ** recommendation not to use ivermectin in patients with COVID-19 except in the context of a clinical trial (published 31 March 2021);
• strong recommendation against hydroxychloroquine in patients with COVID-19 of any severity (published 17 December 2020);
• strong recommendation against lopinavir/ritonavir in patients with COVID-19 of any severity (published 17 December 2020);
• conditional recommendation against remdesivir in hospitalized patients with COVID-19 (published 20 November 2020);
• strong recommendation for systemic corticosteroids in patients with severe and critical COVID-19 (published 2 September 2020); and
• conditional recommendation against systemic corticosteroids in patients with non-severe COVID-19 (published 2 September 2020).

Other COVID-19 therapeutics that are currently under consideration by WHO include IL6-blockers, colchicine, monoclonal antibodies, anticoagulants, and Vitamin D. This guideline will be updated if/when sufficient new evidence warrants this. 

Guidelines regarding the use of drugs to prevent (rather than treat) COVID-19 are included in a separate document, WHO Living guideline: Drugs to prevent COVID-19, that can be accessed via an online platform and in pdf format (or click ‘PDF’ in top right corner of online platform).

Guidelines regarding the clinical management of COVID-19 patients are included in a further document, COVID-19 Clinical management: Living guideline, that can be accessed via an online platform and in pdf format (or click ‘PDF’ in top right corner of online platform).

To view previous (now outdated) versions of this guideline, please see the links below:

• First version, published 2 September 2020 (accessible as pdf only)
• Second version, published 20 November 2020 (access as pdf or via online platform)
• Third version, published 17 December 2020 (access as pdf or via online platform)