According to a Canadian study, colchicine, an antimitotic prescribed in particular against gout, could protect patients from Covid-19.
An assertion that Dr. Jimmy Mohamed, health consultant of Europe 1, invites to take with caution.
DECRYPTION
Effective treatment or new flash in the pan?
According to a clinical study by the Montreal Heart Institute (ICM), colchicine, a drug prescribed in particular against gout, would reduce Covid-19 mortality by 44%.
An affirmation to be taken with tiny precautions, explains our health consultant, Doctor Jimmy Mohamed, who recalls the number of molecules, starting with chloroquine, which have been presented as "miracles" since the start of the pandemic.
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No question of playing the apprentice chemist
First question: what is colchicine?
It is an antimitotic, a kind of anti-inflammatory, which has side effects.
This drug, also prescribed in cases of pericarditis, an inflammation of the heart, is said to "have a narrow therapeutic margin".
This means that the effective dose is very close to the toxic dose, and that overdose can lead to death.
Associations between colchicine and other drugs, such as antibiotics or macrolides, are also formally contraindicated.
You should therefore never play the apprentice chemist with this molecule.
Too small a sample of the population
Especially since looking more closely, the Quebec study certainly obtained clear results - nine deaths in the group of patients who received a placebo, against five in the one who received colchicine -, but on a sample population far too small to draw any conclusions.
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So it's impossible to say that colchicine works (or doesn't work) until more testing is done on a larger scale.
The only treatment that reduces the mortality of the coronavirus in a proven way, based on corticosteroids, is only useful in the hospital, for patients with breathing difficulties.
In the current state of scientific research, the only ways to fight effectively against the coronavirus are to respect barrier gestures and to wear the mask, until the vaccination campaign has protected a sufficient part of the population.