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Researchers in the UK have found an inexpensive and easily accessible way to treat patients with COVID-19. They called the widespread use of steroids a “breakthrough” in the fight against the disease.
Dexamethasone reduced mortality by one third in patients connected to pulmonary ventilators and by one fifth in patients requiring supplemental oxygen. news.sky.com.
Efficacy data for the steroid medication was taken from the Recovery clinical trial, which evaluated several possible treatments for COVID-19. It is estimated that this drug would have saved 4-5 thousand. Live if patients had received it sooner.
The drug is used to suppress inflammatory processes and, in other diseases, appears to be effective in preventing the damage the body’s immune system can do to the body against the coronavirus, it is written. BBC.com
Such an intense body reaction to the virus is better known as a cytokine storm, it can be fatal.
The tests, led by a team of scientists from Oxford University, involved about 2,000 people. patients were given dexamethasone. Almost 4 thousand more. patients were not prescribed in the study. In patients who needed lung ventilation, the drug reduced the risk of death by 40 to 28 percent. In patients who needed supplemental oxygen, the risk of death from the drug was reduced from 25 to 20 percent.
Lead researcher Professor Peter Horby says: “So far, it is the only drug that has reduced mortality and has reduced it significantly. This is a very important turning point.”
Another study leader, Professor Martin Landray, says the results suggest that for every eighth patient who already needs lung ventilation, the drug saves lives.
For patients receiving oxygen therapy, this medicine saves one life for every 20-25 patients.
“It just came to our attention then. Dexamethasone treatment can last up to ten days and costs around £ 5 per patient. So £ 35 can save a life. This medication is available worldwide,” says M. Landray.
The first medication that has been shown to help save the lives of COVID-19 patients is neither new nor expensive. This is a particularly gratifying fact, because it means that you can start treating people around the world right away.
Dexamethasone has been used since the 1970s to treat a variety of ailments, such as rheumatoid arthritis or asthma. Up to half of COVID-19 patients requiring pulmonary ventilation do not survive, so reducing this risk by up to a third is a great achievement.
In intensive care, this drug is allowed, the tablets are administered to patients with less serious illnesses. Another medication that is suitable for patients with COVID-19 is remdesivir, an antiviral medication used to treat Ebola. It reduces coronavirus symptoms from 15 days to 11, but there is insufficient evidence that it also reduces mortality. Remdesivir is a relatively new drug, with limited quantities and no price announcement.
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