COVID-19 rapid guideline: managing symptoms (including at the end of life) in the community

NICE has published new rapid guidelines on the active management of patients with suspected and confirmed COVID-19, and in patients without COVID-19. The guidelines have been designed to maximise the safety of patients whilst enabling services to make the best use of NHS resources.

On 22 April 2020, NICE added ibuprofen as an option for managing fever and other symptoms that antipyretics would help treat. They also clarified the source of prescribing data in some tables.

The guideline on managing symptoms provides advice to health professionals on the management of cough, fever, breathlessness and anxiety, delirium and agitation in those with COVID-19.  It includes approaches for managing these symptoms such as considering the use of paracetamol in people with fever.

People are advised to first treat a mild cough with simple measures and should also avoid lying on their back as this can make coughing, which helps clear the lungs, more difficult. If the cough is more severe and distressing, codeine linctus, codeine phosphate tablets or morphine sulfate oral solution could be considered for short-term use.

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Click here to access the COVID-19 rapid guideline on severe asthma

Click here to access the COVID-19 rapid guideline: managing suspected or confirmed pneumonia in adults in the community

Click here to access the COVID-19 rapid guideline: rheumatological autoimmune, inflammatory and metabolic bone disorders

Click here to access the COVID-19 rapid guideline: managing symptoms (including at the end of life) in the community

© NICE 2020 COVID-19 rapid guideline: managing symptoms (including at the end of life) in the community. Available from the NICE website by clicking here. All rights reserved. NICE guidance is prepared for the National Health Service in England. All NICE guidance is subject to regular review and may be updated or withdrawn. NICE accepts no responsibility for the use of its content in this product/publication. This guidance is published under the NICE-UK open content licence. You can access this licence by clicking here. The information above was correct at the time of publishing. This information is approved for use in the UK only.

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