COVID-19 Drug Found As Dexamethasone Saves Corona Virus Patient
Progress has been made as a drug by name Dexamethasone has been found that can help in the fight the deadly corona virus that has hit the whole world and caused lot of people to loose their life.
A cheap and widely available drug can help save the lives of patients seriously ill with corona virus. The low-dose steroid treatment dexamethasone is a major breakthrough in the fight against the deadly virus, UK experts say.
The drug is part of the world’s biggest trial testing existing treatments to see if they also work for corona virus.
According to Wikipedia, Dexamethasone is a type of cysticercoid medication. It is used in the treatment of many conditions, including rheumatic problems, a number of skin diseases, severe allergies, asthma, chronic obstructive lung disease, croup, brain swelling, ocular pain following ophthalmic surgery, and along with antibiotics in tuberculosis.
In the trial, led by a team from Oxford University, about 2,000 hospital patients were given dexamethasone and compared with more than 4,000 who were not. For patients on ventilators, it cut the risk of death from 40% to 28%.
For patients needing oxygen, it cut the risk of death from 25% to 20%.
Chief investigator Prof Peter Horby said: “This is the only drug so far that has been shown to reduce mortality – and it reduces it significantly. It’s a major breakthrough.”
Lead researcher Prof Martin Landray said the findings suggested one life could be saved for:
- every eight patients on a ventilator
- every 20-25 treated with oxygen
“There is a clear, clear benefit,” he said.
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