Has the government sought to discreetly end, by means of a simple decree, the issuance of an antiobiotic supposedly effective in treating Covid-19 patients?
This is what one Twitter user proclaimed in an indignation message published on December 14 and quickly gone viral: “INCREDIBLE! […] To prevent doctors from treating and curing Covid patients with azithromycin! The doctor must prove by a test that the patient does indeed have tonsillitis! Otherwise [il est] forbids the pharmacist to dispense! They are crazy ! “
The decree in question, to which he shares the link, has been published in the Official Journal. As its name clearly indicates, however, it aims to establish “the list of drugs for which a conditional dispensation prescription can be used”, as well as “the particulars to be included on this prescription” … Among these is azithromycin, the prescription of which is not prohibited for patients with Covid-19, even though this drug has not proven its effectiveness against this disease.
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As recalled by the French Society of Pharmacology and Therapeutics (SFPT) on his site, “Azithromycin is an antibiotic used for many years, in particular in certain bacterial respiratory infections”.
“If it has shown activity on certain viruses in vitro (therefore in the laboratory), at present, the available data conclude that there is no specific benefit from azithromycin in the management of patients with [du Covid-19] “, She continues, stressing that” the combination azithromycin + hydroxychloroquine is strongly discouraged in the absence of demonstrated benefit in the management of patients with [du Covid-19] because of an increased risk of serious side effects, especially cardiac ones. “
The decree put forward on social networks also has a completely different objective than that attributed to it by certain Internet users, as explained to 20 minutes Gilles Bonnefond, spokesperson for the Union of Community Pharmacists Unions (USPO): “When a patient has angina, it can be of bacterial or viral origin. If it is viral,
there is no point in prescribing antibiotics such as azithromycin. But if it is bacterial, they must be prescribed, otherwise there is a risk of complications with damage to the heart muscles. “
A decree aimed at combating the unnecessary prescription of antibiotics
“The only way to know what type of angina it is is to do a rapid diagnostic orientation test, which allows, using a cotton swab put in the mouth, to verify in five minutes what it is. The idea is that if the patient first goes to a doctor because he has a sore throat, the doctor does this test before prescribing antibiotics. But if he cannot do the test, he writes a conditional prescription and asks the pharmacist to do the test before dispensing, if he is positive, the antibiotic, ”continues Gilles Bonnefond.
“This decree aims to combat the use of antibiotics when they are ineffective and on the contrary risk developing antibiotic resistance”, continues the spokesperson for the USPO.
And his colleague Philippe Besset, president of the Federation of dispensing pharmacists (FSPF), added: “This circuit can also be done in the other direction: a person who comes to the pharmacy for a sore throat will see the pharmacist give him the test. If the angina is bacterial, then it is referred to the doctor, who prescribes antibiotics. And if it is viral, the pharmacist gives him medication to treat the symptoms: lozenge, mouthwash… ”
“It is still possible to prescribe antibiotics but this does not comply with the recommendations, antibiotics not being useful in cases of viral angina”, concludes the president of the FSPF.