Dexamethasone Is The First Drug To Be Shown To Improve Survival In COVID-19!

by | Aug 11, 2020 | Antiviral | 0 comments

Scientist, governments, and international bodies are doing their best to find a rocket alternative to beat the effect of the deadly coronavirus and save lives.  
COVID-19, the deadliest disease, has made every country bound to pull up their socks to make a vaccine as early as possible to save the lives of billions of people. All the governments from across the globe are rushing to achieve the formula to prepare a vaccine for COVID-19. As the vaccine takes time, some powerful drugs have shown their impeccable efficacy in treating Coronavirus patients efficiently. Dexamethasone is one of the most popular drugs that has been shown to improve survival in COVID-19 cases. According to a study, researchers from England say they are the first to provide evidence that Dexamethasone is a successful survival option in COVID-19 patients. The recovery trial conducted in the UK mentions that Dexamethasone has reduced deaths in patients who were ventilated; WHO director-general (Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus) has also admitted that so far, Dexamethasone is the first-line treatment to reduce mortality in patients who require oxygen or ventilator support.

What is Dexamethasone?

Dexamethasone was approved in 1961; the drug is used to treat inflammatory and autoimmune conditions like rheumatoid arthritis. The anti-inflammatory effects of this drug are effective enough that it is controlling the critical Covid-19 patients who are at risk of death.

Doctors also use Dexamethasone to counteract certain side effects that appear in cancer patients after chemotherapy. WHO included this medicine as Essential Medicine in their list in the year 1970. It is one of the most affordable and widely available drugs across the globe. Doctors labeled Dexamethasone as an easy administration, low-cost, and widely available drug. The cost of this medicine varies from country to country according to their respective currency. 

Safety Efficacy of Dexamethasone in COVID Patients

Dexamethasone is a well-known, inexpensive drug. This drug has been approved in the UK for use in patients requiring respiratory support treatment. On June 16th, 2020, the UK’s recovery trial announced Dexamethasone as a potentially life-saving drug for coronavirus infection. Chris Whitt (the chief medical officer for England) and Sir Patrick Vallance have called this trial a “ground-breaking” achievement.

Test and Trial Percentages of Dexamethasone for COVID-19

The steroid treatment was tested on patients to conduct the therapy/recovery trial and evaluate its efficacy in coronavirus cases. Almost 2100 patients were included in this random trial who have been given the dosage of Dexamethasone 6 mg once a day for 10 days. It was compared between the control group of patients of around 4300 to check the mortality rate after 28 days who required ventilation treatment at approximately 40%, who required oxygen at around 25%, and the lowest who did not require respiratory intervention at about 15%. The results showed that Dexamethasone reduced deaths by 35% in ventilated patients and 20% in oxygen-required patients. No significant benefit was discovered for those who did not require respiratory support. After these trials, Peter Horby (a professor from Oxford University) said, “Dexamethasone is the first drug to be shown to improve survival in COVID-19 cases.

Usage of Dexamethasone

Nick Cammack of Wellcome (personnel from British Charity – Science dept.) said that even if this drug only helps in severe cases, “countless lives will be saved globally.”  According to him, this drug must be rolled out and accessed by several critically ill patients across the globe. The medicine reduces inflammation in COVID-19 patients. According to research, experts believe the drug can save one life for every eight patients on a ventilator or extra oxygen.

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