Dexamethasone is the first life-ssaving drug for COVID-19
BBC News has reported that dexamethasone, administered in low dose can help to save lives of coronavirus patients who are very ill. According to the report, UK experts have made a ground-breaking discovery which is going to change how the world fights against the pandemic.
It is understood that low-dose steroid treatment will cut the risk of death from coronavirus by a third for patients on ventilators. For patients who are on oxygen, it will cut the risk by a fifth.
The drug is reportedly part of the world's biggest trial testing existing treatment options to see if they also work with COVID-19.
The drug is reportedly already in mass production which will help deal with the problem of availability in many locations
Cheap steroid cuts death rates significantly for seriously ill Covid-19 patients in intensive care, drug trial finds https://t.co/EW7at9AAoJ
— BBC Breaking News (@BBCBreaking) June 16, 2020
Dexamethasone is already used to reduce inflammation in other medical conditions and has been proven to prevent the damage that can happen when the body gets into what is called cytokine storm as it tries to fight of COVID-19 virus.
Dexamethasone is readily available and used for many years in ICUs in the United Kingdom (UK). There is also reported evidence that use of oral steroids in early COVID-19 disease (e.g. those who use rescue steroids at home) show worse outcomes than those who don't.
Some have expressed concerns based on earlier reports that immune suppression from corticosteroids early use would reduce the body's ability to fight off the virus.
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