Dexamethasone for COVID-19 patients
Image credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto
As the world scrambles to find a cure for COVID-19, it seems like we might have finally made a breakthrough.
BBC reported that a team at Oxford University recently held a trial that tested 2,104 hospital patients, who were given dexamethasone – a widely available and inexpensive drug that is used as treatment for conditions like allergies, asthma and arthritis.
Only drug to “reduce mortality” significantly
In the trial, it was found that the drug cut the “risk of death” for patients on ventilators from 40% to 28%, and for patients needing oxygen from 25% to 20%.
“This is the only drug so far that has been shown to reduce mortality – and it reduces it significantly. It’s a major breakthrough,” said chief investigator Professor Peter Horby.
It was also found that dexamethasone didn’t seem to help patients with milder COVID-19 symptoms who “did not need help with their breathing.”
The drug was given to patients via IV and orally.
Dexamethasone has been used since the 60s
Professor Martin Landray, a lead researcher, shared that the investigation findings suggest that “for every eight patients treated on ventilators, you could save one life.”
For patients who required oxygen, the drug reduced deaths by 20%.
This is huge news, especially with the virus having claimed over 430,000 deaths worldwide.
Besides dexamethasone, remdesivir, an anti-viral treatment used for Ebola, is the only other drug known to help COVID-19 patients in lowering respiratory tract infections.
In Thailand, researchers began testing experimental vaccines with “encouraging results,” CNA reported.
Updates to follow.
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