New recommendations published this week cover:
Further details about these recommendations are below.
The Taskforce has received approval from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) for version 20.0 of the Australian guidelines for the clinical care of people with COVID-19, under Section 14A of the NHMRC Act 1992. In approving the guideline recommendations, NHMRC considers that they meet the NHMRC standard for clinical practice guidelines.
NHMRC is satisfied that the guideline recommendations are systematically derived, based on the identification and synthesis of the best available scientific evidence, and developed for health professionals practising in an Australian health care setting.
The approval process for living guidelines is iterative and incorporates a 30-day period during which new or updated guideline recommendations are open for public consultation prior to approval. Details regarding which recommendations have been approved by NHMRC are maintained in the Introduction section of the guideline. Version 28 of the guidelines will be submitted for approval next week.
The NHMRC has been a key driver of both excellence and innovation among Australian guideline developers for many years, approving the world’s first living stroke guidelines in 2017. We thank Gerraint Duggan and his team in the Clinical Guidelines and Research Translation Branch at NHMRC for their support and throughout the approval process.
The Consumer Panel held their last meeting for 2020 this week. The Panel has played a tremendously important role in providing strategic consumer advice to help shape the guidelines, identifying clinical questions to be addressed, prioritisation of questions and contributions to the development of individual recommendations.
We thank Co-Chairs Dr Rebecca Randall and Dr Eleanor Horton for their leadership, together with Project Officer Sue Whicker, and gratefully acknowledge the contribution of all members of the panel:
The Consumer Panel is co-convened with our Community Partner, the Consumers Health Forum of Australia.
The Taskforce this week announced the membership of its new expert panel for infection prevention and control (IPC), which will be jointly chaired by the Infection Control Expert Group (ICEG).
The formation of the panel addresses calls from the clinical sector to strengthen capacity for emerging evidence and frontline clinical experience to inform national IPC guidance for healthcare workers.
The panel, which was selected from a highly accomplished field of more than 60 applicants, will be co-chaired by Dr Phillipa Hore (Taskforce nominee) and Professor John Ferguson (ICEG nominee). The 17-member panel draws on some of Australia’s foremost experts in evidence-based clinical practice, infection prevention and control, occupation and environmental health, occupational hygiene and clinical engineering.
The IPC Panel convened for the first time on Wednesday and will meet weekly herein.
We are calling on Australian healthcare practitioners to participate in a brief 5-minute survey to help us understand how the guidelines and flowcharts developed by the Taskforce are being used, and how we can improve the value of the guidance we publish.
Feedback is vital to improving the ongoing impact of the guidelines. We would very much appreciate your insights and encourage you to distribute through your clinical networks.
The survey will be open until 11:59pm this Sunday, December 6.
Do not use dutasteride for the treatment of COVID-19 outside of randomised trials with appropriate ethical approval.
Consider stopping oral menopausal hormone therapy (MHT), also known as hormone replacement therapy (HRT), in women with mild or moderate COVID-19.
Before restarting oral MHT, review the indication for this. If MHT is continued, consider using a transdermal preparation.
Stop oral menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) in women with severe or critical COVID-19.
Before restarting oral MHT, review the indication for this and consider transitioning to a transdermal preparation.
In women with mild or moderate COVID-19, manage oestrogen-containing contraception as per usual care.
In women who are receiving care in hospital for severe or critical COVID-19 and who are taking oestrogen-containing contraception, manage these medications as per usual care.
In women who stop or suspend contraception when they have severe or critical COVID-19, restart contraception at the time of
discharge.
The Taskforce is continually monitoring research to update recommendations weekly as new evidence accumulates.
We are currently reviewing evidence to develop recommendations and flowcharts to guide practice in areas including:
ANZ Guideline Network
Last week’s ANZ Guidelines International Network webinar First nations-led guideline development – supporting prevention and management COVID-19 in primary healthcare is now available to view. Speakers include our Guidelines Leadership Group member Dr Jason Agostino, Medical advisor to NACCHO.
FIGO webinar
Watch the International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics recent webinar COVID-19 in Australian and New Zealand – a tale of two countries featuring our Pregnancy and Perinatal Care Panellists – Dr Vijay Roach, Dr Clare Whitehead, A/Prof Joshua Vogel and Jackie Kitschke.
It is a core mission of the Taskforce to engage with frontline clinicians to rapidly identify and address priority clinical questions.
Each week we collect suggestions for new clinical questions or topics for consideration by the Taskforce. A document that lists all of the suggested questions, topics and new patient groups that we have received to date is available here.
Please encourage your clinical colleagues to provide their insights via the website.