JOIN USBBMP issuing 'outdated' home-isolation kits to patients
It has been over six months since Ivermectin and Doxycycline were dropped from India’s Covid-19 treatment protocol, but this has not stopped municipal authorities from dispensing these drugs to symptomatic people in home isolation.
Among them was Farid, 43 (name changed), a resident of Bommanahalli Zone, who developed symptoms of the disease on December 25, including mild fever (100F), body pain, serious migraine, in addition to severe nasal congestion, which lasted for several days.
He was issued a home-isolation kit by the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP). The kit had a bottle of sanitiser (100 ml), a triple-layer mask, Vitamin C (500 mg), Zinc tablets (50 mg), a six-day supply of paracetamol, and a three-day supply of Ivermectin and a five-day course of Doxycycline.
Following consultations with private doctors, he was advised not to ingest these drugs. “I felt the kit was a leftover from the second wave,” Farid said.
Other individuals in home isolation in different parts of the city confirmed that they had also received old kits, as recent as Monday.
A member of the Clinical Treatment Committee said as per the latest guidelines for symptomatic home-isolation cases, the kits must include only paracetamol, vitamin supplements and Zinc. The Union Health Ministry had dropped both Ivermectin (a parasitic) and Doxycycline from the clinical treatment list on June 7.
BBMP’s Chief Health Officer Dr A S Balasundar said he learnt of the problem and had issued instructions to zonal teams not to give the old kits. “In fact, experts are telling us not to issue any kits at all. We are planning to start giving updated kits, but the decision has not yet been made,” he said.
Other sources said issuing the kits, even if the drugs within have not expired, was a bid to expend surplus kits unused after the second wave.
Pulmonologist Dr Ravindra Mehta of Apollo Hospitals and a member of the state’s Covid-19 expert committee explained that Ivermectin and Doxycycline were originally repurposed for Covid treatment in the first wave based on prior evidence of antiviral activity.
“It was used on the presumption that they would have some effect. However, data from the last 1.5 years shows that they by and large do not have any effect or utility against Covid-19,” he said.
“Doxycycline also causes severe gastric problems and vomiting. Liver functions are also affected,” added Dr Raghu J, an infectious disease expert at Sakra World Hospital.
‘A more modern kit needed’
Prathima, 50 (name changed), who tested positive on January 2, told DH she received an old kit.
While she praised the BBMP’s clinical follow-up activities, she noted the kits would be more effective if they had N-95 masks, more paracetamol, a nasal decongestant, lozenges for a sore throat and a rapid test to use on the seventh day of the infection.
“I treated my infection only with paracetamol, an anti-allergic prescribed by my doctor, and Vitamin C pills,” she said.