'Save lives around the world': a cheap and popular drug reduces mortality from COVID-19

A cheap and widely available drug can help save the lives of patients seriously ill with coronavirus infection, reports Air force.

Photo: Shutterstock

British experts say that low doses of steroid hormone dexamethasone are a major breakthrough in the fight against the deadly virus.

The drug is part of the world's largest trial trial of existing treatments to determine whether they also work against coronavirus infection.

The drug reduced the risk of death by one third for patients on the ventilator. For those on oxygen, he reduced the number of deaths by one fifth.

According to the researchers, if this drug was used to treat patients in the UK from the start of a pandemic, up to 5000 lives could be saved.

And this can be of great benefit in poorer countries with more patients with COVID-19.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that this is a real occasion to celebrate "a remarkable British scientific achievement," adding: "We have taken steps to ensure sufficient reserves even in the case of a second peak."

England's chief medical officer, Professor Chris Whitty, said the discovery would save lives around the world.

About 19 out of 20 patients with coronavirus recover without hospitalization. Of those who were admitted to the hospital, most also recover, but some may need oxygen or mechanical ventilation.

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And these high-risk patients seem to be helped by dexamethasone.

The drug is already being used to reduce inflammation in several other conditions, including arthritis, asthma, and certain skin conditions. It seems that it can also stop some damage that can occur when the body's immune system begins to overload, trying to fight the coronavirus.

This overreaction, the so-called cytokine storm, can be fatal.

In the study, led by a team from Oxford University, about 2000 hospital patients received dexamethasone, but more than 4000 did not. For patients on a ventilator, it reduces the risk of death from 40% to 28%. For patients requiring oxygen, it reduces the risk of death from 25% to 20%.

Chief Investigator Professor Peter Horby said: “So far, this is the only drug that reduces mortality, and significantly. This is a big breakthrough. ”

Leading researcher Professor Martin Landray said that, as the results show, you can save:

• 1 out of 8 patients on a ventilator;
• 1 out of 20-25 lives of those who receive oxygen.

“There is a clear, clear advantage,” he said. - Treatment with dexamethasone lasts up to 10 days and costs around £5 ($6,28) per patient. So essentially saving a life costs £35 ($44). This is a drug that is available all over the world.”

According to Professor Landrey, when appropriate, hospital patients should now be given it without delay. But people should not go out and buy it to take home.

Dexamethasone does not appear to help people with milder symptoms of coronavirus who don't need breathing help.

The trial, which has been conducted since March, also examined the drug hydroxychloroquine, which is intended for the treatment of malaria, which was subsequently ruled out because of fears that it will increase mortality and heart problems.

Meanwhile, it is noted that the antiviral drug remdesivir appears to reduce the recovery time of people with coronavirus.

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Analysis by Fergus Walsh, Air Force Health Correspondent

The first drug proven to reduce deaths from COVID-19 is not some new, expensive drug, but an old, cheap-as-chips steroid. This is something to celebrate because patients around the world can benefit immediately.

Dexamethasone has been used since the early 1960s to treat a wide range of diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis and asthma. Half of all Covid patients who require mechanical ventilation do not survive, therefore reducing this risk by a third would have a huge impact.

The drug is administered intravenously in intensive care and in the form of tablets for less seriously ill patients. To date, the only other drug that has been proven to benefit COVID-19 patients is remdesivir, which has been used to treat Ebola. It reduces the duration of coronavirus symptoms from 15 days to 11. But the data were not convincing enough to show whether mortality had decreased.

Unlike dexamethasone, remdesivir is a new drug with limited supplies and a price has not yet been announced.

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