On Saturday, the Union’s health ministry reviewed clinical management protocols for coronavirus disease (Covid-19), and added the steroid dexamethasone for use in patients with progressive deterioration of oxygenation indicators, rapid worsening of images. and excessive activation of the body’s inflammatory response.
“The updated protocol includes advice to use Dexamethasone as an alternative to Methylprednisolone for the management of moderate to severe cases of Covid-19. The change was made after considering the latest available evidence and consulting experts, “the ministry said in a statement.
The recommended dose is 0.2-0.4mg / kg / day for a period of 3-5 days.
Health Secretary Preeti Sudan has written to state governments to follow the updated protocol and make the necessary arrangements for the availability and use of the drug in all hospitals.
A cheap and widely available steroid medication, dexamethasone may save one in three critically ill patients from Covid-19, according to the results of a scientific scrutiny conducted by the University of Oxford published in a prepress journal on Monday.
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“Dexamethasone is a corticosteroid medication used in a wide range of conditions for its anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive effects. The drug was tested in hospitalized patients with COVID-19 in the RECOVERY clinical trial and was found to have benefits for critically ill patients and has been shown to reduce mortality by approximately one-third for patients on respirators, and by approximately one-fifth for patients being maintained with oxygen therapy. It is made in India, costs a few rupees, and has been used for 60 years to treat inflammatory diseases and skeptical shock, “said a statement from the Ministry of Health.
Dexamethasone is the first treatment to prevent death from Covid-19. Although remdesivir antiviral has been shown to shorten recovery time in hospitalized patients, no therapeutic agent has been shown to reduce mortality.
“The drug has shown promise in treating Covid in the interim results, so it has been used,” said Dr. Anurag Agrawal, director of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Institute for Genomics and Integrative Biology, New Delhi. .
The drug is also part of the National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM).
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The ministry last updated the clinical management protocols for Covid-19 on June 13 to include the antiviral medication remdesivir (under authorization for emergency use) and the immunosuppressant tocilizumab (not indicated on the label).
Another therapy that received approval for off-label use is convalescent plasma therapy in which the plasma from recovered individuals is transfused into patients who are not improving.
“There are no specific medications for Covid-19 at this time and these medications are currently being tested worldwide in hospitalized patients. However, there are certain contraindications to the use of these medications, so the medication is not for everyone and should be started under strict medical supervision, ”said Dr. Yatin Mehta, chair of the critical care department at Medanta Hospital.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has also warned that dexamethasone should only be used in patients with severe or critical illness, under close clinical supervision, and could cause harm if administered too early in the disease stage.
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