A cheap and generally used steroid, Dexamethasone has shown significant results in saving lives in the fight against COVID-19. The drug which has been touted as a “major breakthrough” has become the first to be able to save lives among Covid-19 patients.
Reports based on newly declared results of trials revealed that dexamethasone, which is used to decrease inflammation in other diseases, reduced death rates by 33 percent among the most critically ill COVID-19 patients admitted to the hospital. The results recommend that the drug should instantly become a part of standard care in patients with severe cases of pandemic disease.
“This is a result that shows that if patients who have Covid-19 and are on ventilators or are on oxygen are given dexamethasone, it will save lives, and it will do so at a remarkably low cost,” said Martin Landray, an Oxford University professor co-leading the trial, known as the RECOVERY trial.
“It’s going to be very hard for any drug really to replace this, given that for less than $63.26, you can treat eight patients and save a life” Martin Landray, Professor at Oxford University Co-Leader – RECOVERY trial team
Peter Horby, co-lead investigator in Mr. Martin’s team, said dexamethasone was “the only drug that’s so far shown to reduce mortality – and it reduces it significantly.”
“It is a major breakthrough,” he said. “Dexamethasone is inexpensive, on the shelf, and can be used immediately to save lives worldwide.”
Currently, there are no approved treatments or vaccines for COVID-19 with proven recovery statistics.
Promising Results
The RECOVERY trial examined results of around 2,100 patients who were randomly allocated to get the steroid, with those of around 4,300 patients who did not get it.
The outcomes hinted that one death in every eight ventilated COVID-19 patients was prevented by treatment with dexamethasone while one death would be prevented among every 25 Covid-19 patients that received the drug and are on oxygen.
COVID-19 patients who did not require respiratory support received no benefit from treatment with dexamethasone.
“The survival benefit is clear and large in those patients who are sick enough to require oxygen treatment, so dexamethasone should now become standard of care in these patients,” Mr. Horby said.
The RECOVERY trial was launched in April as a randomized clinical trial to experiment a range of potential treatments for COVID-19, including low-dose dexamethasone and the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine.
The hydroxychloroquine unit was suspended earlier this month after Horby and Landray said results showed it was “useless” at treating COVID-19 patients.
“It’s going to be very hard for any drug really to replace this, given that for less than $63.26, you can treat eight patients and save a life”
