Jun 17, 2020

Dexamethasone, a low cost corticosteroid available in tablet as well as injectable form has become the first drug to show survival improvement in critically ill cornoavirus patients.

As per the study conducted in UK, Researchers found that Dexamethasone reduced deaths by one-third in ventilated patientsand by one fifth in other patients receiving oxygen only. There was no benefit among those patients who did not require respiratory support.

Based on these results, 1 death would be prevented by treatment of around 8 ventilated patients or around 25 patients requiring oxygen alone.

“Dexamethasone is the first drug to be shown to improve survival in COVID-19. This is an extremely welcome result. 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. Dexamethasone is inexpensive, on the shelf, and can be used immediately to save lives worldwide,” Peter Horby, Professor of Emerging Infectious Diseases in the Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, and one of the Chief Investigators for the trial, said in a statement.

Dexamethasone is a steroid that has been used since the 1960s to reduce inflammation in a range of conditions, including inflammatory disorders and certain cancers. It has been listed on the WHO Model List of Essential Medicines since 1977 in multiple formulations, and is currently off-patent and affordably available in most countries.

The World Health Organization (WHO) welcomes the initial clinical trial results from the United Kingdom (UK).

“This is the first treatment to be shown to reduce mortality in patients with COVID-19 requiring oxygen or ventilator support.  This is great news and I congratulate the Government of the UK, the University of Oxford, and the many hospitals and patients in the UK who have contributed to this lifesaving scientific breakthrough.” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General.