Stop prescribing and buying medicine for F0 immediately if you don't want to be in danger.

Ms. NTKA (32 years old) informed her acquaintance that she had just tested positive for two lines. "I'm F0!", she said.

Immediately, relatives, friends, and acquaintances who had contracted Covid-19 sent her a prescription for F0 medicine and told her to buy it immediately. Some sent Molnupiravir 400mg, others sent a bag of 10 blister packs and confirmed that it was very effective.

"My friend told me to take it right away to stop the disease, otherwise Covid-19 will be very tiring. I asked a pharmacist if I could take it, and she said yes, so I took it," said Ms. KA.

Ms. KA is not a rare F0 who was prescribed and diagnosed by "former F0s" instead of being consulted by a doctor. It is worth noting that there have been many warnings about Covid-19 patients using inappropriate drugs with serious consequences from doctors and hospitals across the country.

The western medicine that Ms. KA received from her friends included anti-inflammatory and antibiotic drugs.

In fact, during the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic, the F0 doctor consulting network online and via phone helped the health sector care for, monitor, and treat Covid-19 patients effectively. This is an important model that contributes to reducing the burden on the treatment system, helping Ho Chi Minh City and the whole country overcome the peak of the pandemic.

However, after recovering from the disease, F0s have applied prescriptions or personal experiences to other people with Covid-19. Many mild F0s who do not need to take medicine also trust and use it.

Meanwhile, each type of antibiotic, anti-inflammatory, antiviral has different indications, timing, dosage, and duration of use, which must be evaluated by a doctor for each patient. In the common F0 prescription ingredients on the internet, we can mention Medrol 16mg (anti-inflammatory), Cefdinir (antibiotic), Dexamethasone (anti-inflammatory), and now Molnupiravir, Favipiravir (antiviral).

In addition to the risk of making F0 worse, drug resistance due to indiscriminate use of antibiotics also makes doctors ... panic.

Dr. Le Quoc Hung, Head of the Department of Tropical Diseases, Cho Ray Hospital, is concerned that antibiotics are very "favored" in F0 prescriptions online.

"Covid-19 is a viral disease, antibiotics are completely useless in the early stages. However, it helps germs and bacteria "practice" to fight against antibiotics, becoming resistant to drugs. The consequence is that later when patients are attacked by multi-resistant bacteria, the chance of being cured is very low."

Not only antibiotics, but anti-inflammatory drugs are also prescribed very heavily.

The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health has warned that in the early stages of the disease, F0s should absolutely not use anti-inflammatory drugs. Anti-inflammatory drugs (corticoids) are drugs that inhibit inflammatory reactions, reduce the immune system, and help the virus grow stronger in the body. Taking anti-inflammatory drugs in the first 5-7 days is harmful to F0s.

In addition, anti-inflammatory drugs have side effects. For example, patients with gastric ulcers, if taking corticosteroids, will have gastrointestinal bleeding.

Previously, anti-inflammatory drugs were included in medicine bag B for F0 to treat at home, if there were signs of serious illness. When Ho Chi Minh City implemented social distancing, patients could not go out to buy medicine, so the health sector and the government provided these medicine bags for F0 to take home, with instructions for use.

The health sector then converted drug bag B into a single dose, used for severe Covid-19 patients before hospitalization.

However, ignoring expertise, people naturally prescribe and dispense medicine for F0 more professionally than doctors. They are acquaintances, "former F0" with experience in recovering from the disease, neighbors, drug sellers... Anyone can become a "seasonal doctor" to treat Covid-19.

"F0 with no symptoms or mild symptoms only need nutritional supplements, common headache, cough, and runny nose medications. No need to make a big deal out of it! These irresponsible prescriptions can make the patient worse due to side effects," a doctor said indignantly.

A drug may be right for one patient but harmful for another.

Concerns about antibiotics and anti-inflammatory drugs have not passed, and there is a phenomenon of F0 taking antiviral drugs for prevention. Especially when Molnupiravir is produced and circulated domestically, the price is cheap, and people can buy it more easily.

There have been cases where mothers gave their young children Molnupiravir because they listened to advice from “former F0s”. Or F0s used the medicine for 2-3 days and saw that the symptoms had gone away so they stopped taking it, and the rest were given to other F0s... temporarily.

Doctor Vo Thanh Hung, Head of the Department of Infectious Diseases, Le Van Thinh Hospital, Thu Duc City, said that the antiviral drug Molnupiravir has a 5-day course, twice a day in the morning and afternoon.

F0s must be examined by a doctor and prescribed medication because the drug has many side effects and is contraindicated in many groups of people.

“Absolutely do not share this medicine with other patients, especially pregnant women. Children under 18 years old should not use it. Even F0 when there are no symptoms, mild symptoms, should not use Molnupiravir or any anti-inflammatory drugs for prevention.

These drugs are excreted very strongly through the liver and kidneys. If abused, they will have a big impact, with a very high risk of liver and kidney damage," Dr. Hung shared.

Because of the dangers of stopping or abusing the antiviral drug Molnupiravir, Dr. Hung noted that the patient's family should monitor and remind them if F0 has to take antiviral drugs.

“Even in the hospital's Infectious Diseases Department, we also carefully consider prescribing Molnupiravir for inpatients with Covid-19.

In case F0 has to take this medicine, hospital staff also give the medicine in doses, not in one dose according to the treatment regimen. Patients sign and take it immediately under the supervision of medical staff to avoid the case of the patient "saving" or forgetting to take it.

Doctor Vo Thanh Hung also affirmed that medicine is for treatment, not prevention, nor is it for... peace of mind.

Especially for people in close contact with Covid-19 patients (F1), taking antiviral drugs is not only a waste of money but more seriously, it risks damaging the liver, kidneys, etc.

Molnupiravir cannot be used indiscriminately.

In fact, many F0s have been recorded to have weakened their immune systems due to taking anti-inflammatory drugs in the first 7 days, causing the virus to flare up and become more severe. Or F0s have bleeding and stomach ulcers after taking anti-inflammatory drugs.

And the threat of drug resistance, which means patients may survive Covid-19, but face serious infections for which existing antibiotics are completely ineffective.

According to Vietnamnet