DEXAMETHASONE to treat #COVID__19

-Overview and Update

*THREAD*

Dexamethasone is the first drug found to reduce mortality in severely ill #COVID__19 patients. Dexamethasone is a corticosteroid that is used to treat allergies and inflammation.

Corticosteroids are naturally produced in the body & have a role in different physiological processes that maintain bodily normal function.Synthetic corticosteroids are prescribed for a range of conditions including asthma, arthritis, Crohn's disease even leukaemia & lymphoma.

RECOVERY TRIAL: Dexamethasone has been included in the RECOVERY Trial, a randomized study to investigate the utility of several treatment options for #COVID19 To date, 11,500 patients have been recruited from over 175 hospitals.

THE STUDY : Of the study cohort, 2104 patients were randomly allocated to the Dexamethasone treatment group. Patients receiving Dexamethasone were administered 6 mg once a day for 10 days either orally or intravenously.

Patient outcomes of the Dexamethasone group were compared with the control group of 4321 patients who were randomized to standard care alone.

THE DATA I: In patients requiring ventilation, Dexamethasone significantly reduced deaths by over 30%.

THE DATA II: Administration of Dexamethasone also, significantly reduced deaths by 20% in patients receiving oxygen.

THE DATA III: Patients that didn’t require respiratory, support did not benefit from treatment with Dexamethasone.

CONCLUSIONS: Dexamethasone is the first drug to demonstrate improved survival outcome when administered to severely ill COVID-19 patients requiring ventilation or oxygen.

As dexamethasone has already been approved for medical use, is widely available and low-cost, it offers a viable and much needed treatment option.

Note : Is important to note that dexamethasone should only be taken when prescribed by a medical professional and as most drugs, does have some side-effects. There’s NO evidence to suggest it can be used to prevent COVID-19.