Honduras treatment for covid-19 stands out worldwide

News provided by

Government of the Republic of Honduras

Sep 28, 2020, 20:27 ET

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras, Sept. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Catracho, the COVID-19 treatment method Honduras is using to save lives, was one of the 150 formulas chosen from 30,000 ones presented at the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID) Conference on Coronavirus, with the co-participation of the American Infectious Diseases Association, in Basel, Switzerland.

Fernando Valerio Oscar Diaz and Miguel Sierra Hoffman

The research presented by Honduran doctors Óscar Díaz, Fernando Valerio and Miguel Sierra, creators of Catracho treatment, will be published as one of the great contributions in reducing deaths by Covid-19.

Catracho – as Hondurans are colloquially called – is an acrostic made up of the names (in English) of its main components: colchicine, anti-inflammatories, tocilizumab, ivermectin, blood thinners, and hydroxychloroquine.

The Central American country had one of the highest fatality rates from coronavirus in Latin America. On March 10th, the first case of covid-19 was reported in Honduras and at the beginning of April the mortality rate was 14.5%. On April 23, a multi-mechanism treatment protocol based on the pathophysiology of covid-19 was implemented and by July 18TH, 31,966 patients were confirmed with the disease. The fatality rate at that time had decreased to 2.66%, representing a decrease of 81.6%.

"I am proud that we can tell the world that Honduras has become part of contemporary world history with golden letters, that is something that no one will take from us" the Honduran Doctor Miguel Sierra-Hoffman said, in reference to the contribution of Honduras to science and finding a cure against the novel coronavirus. Doctor Sierra exercise medicine in the United States of America.

"We have given the world an answer on how to address the virus in critically ill patients, lowering mortality in Honduras, a country with many limitations and with one of the worst prognoses when the pandemic entered," said the doctor. According to Sierra-Hoffman, "from a scientific point of view it is a great merit and achievement for humanity".

The president of Honduras, Juan Orlando Hernández, congratulated the team of researchers. "We have to be proud of what is ours in the midst of this tragedy and Catracho is an example of this since it has been structured by Honduran doctors such as Dr. Sierra Hoffman, a Honduran who lives in Houston and has a very important position in the world of health and medicine. And also, the doctors Fernando Valerio, Óscar Díaz and Videa, whose guidance has been essential to carry out the economic reopening of our country" President Hernández said.

For more information: https://covid19honduras.org/

SOURCE Government of the Republic of Honduras