The World Health Organization warned that the increased use of antibiotics to combat COVID-19 will cause more deaths, according to a recently published article. 

Use of Antibiotics to Combat COVID-19

The battle to end COVID-19 is still far from reality. Without no choice, many are taking antibiotics around the globe in a hope that it will cure them. These antibiotics are either treated in the hospital or in some instances, there are some who self-medicate. 

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned on Monday that a "worrying number" of bacterial infections was increasingly resistant. WHO refers to the antibiotics that are traditionally used to treat diseases.

Additionally, the WHO also asserted that the inappropriate use of antibiotics that are believed to cure or treat patients who have COVID-19 could even further this trend. The agency also said that not all who have COVID-19 needed antibiotics. 

In a virtual press conference, WHO Director-General said: "The Covid-19 pandemic has led to increased use of antibiotics, which ultimately will lead to higher bacterial resistance rates that will impact the burden of disease and deaths during the pandemic and beyond." 

Guidelines in Treating a Person With COVID-19 Using Antibiotics

The WHO released guidelines to medics that specifically stipulate not to release antibiotics to COVID-19 patients who have mild symptoms or those who have moderate illness most especially if patients have no clinical suspicion of bacterial infection. 

Tedros even called the resistance of anti-bacterial antibiotics as "one of the most urgent challenges today." He said: "It's clear that the world is losing its ability to use critically important antimicrobial medicines." 

The Use of Hydrochloquine 

The use of hydroxychloroquine has also made headlines in the previous weeks after it was claimed a month ago that it is potential to cure COVID-19. Pres. Donald Trump even admitted that he was taking the anti-malarial drug for nearly two weeks but eventually stop using it. 

The WHO also halts the global clinical trial of the anti-malarial drug after it was found out that instead of helping COVID-19 patients, it became the main reason for the higher mortality rate. A study by Lancet shows that taking the drug poses a higher risk of death.

Moreover, the study was based on the 14, 888 patients who were taking the drugs from Dec. 20 to Apr. 14 and 10,700 of which have died. Researchers firmly believed that hydroxychloroquine was the main cause of their death.

Aside from that, the research also found out that an increase of 137 percent of the patients had experienced serious heart problems after taking the anti-malarial drug. Dr. Michael Ryan, WHO's emergency chief, also said: "We're just acting on an abundance of caution based on the recent results of all the studies to ensure that we can continue safely with that arm of the trial." 

WHO Director-General Tedros also said: The Executive Group has implemented a temporary pause of the hydroxychloroquine arm within the Solidarity Trial while the data is reviewed by the Data Safety Monitoring Board."

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