Dexamethasone, an inexpensive drug that was confirmed by United Kingdom experts to help save lives for patients who are terminally infected with COVID-19. The said drug was tested and has gone through trials that were reported to cut deaths by one-third of the critically ill patients with Coronavirus. This affordable and low-dose steroid treatment dexamethasone is a major breakthrough in the battle against COVID.
Kenneth Baillie, an intensive-care physician at the University of Edinburgh, UK, who serves on the steering committee of the trial, called RECOVERY, said, “It’s a startling result. It will clearly have a massive global impact.”
According to BBC News, the researches have affirmed that if the drug was used to treat patients in the UK from the start of the global pandemic, there would be around 5,000 lives that could have been saved. The positive outcome made through the trials has given so much hope with the ongoing fight against the virus globally.
With the trial conducted by The Recovery, it shows a cut on the risk of death from 40% to 28% for patients who are on ventilators. It also shows a decrease of 25% to 20% with the risk of dying on patients who need oxygen. “This is the only drug so far that has been shown to reduce mortality – and it reduces it significantly. It’s a major breakthrough,” Chief investigator Prof Peter Horby said.
With this new discovery, researchers and experts urge hospitals to use it to the right patients immediately without any delay. From a report by BBC News, Lead researcher Prof Martin Landray explained that the findings suggest one life could be saved for; every eight patients on a ventilator and every 20-25 treated with oxygen. He added, “There is a clear, clear benefit. This is a drug that is globally available.”
Dexamethasone, a huge breakthrough
The Dexamethasone is indeed a huge breakthrough, its inexpensive and can be available globally. An analysis came out to back it up by a health correspondent Fergus Walsh regarding the impact of the drug to save humankind across the world.
“The first drug proven to cut deaths from Covid-19 is not some new, expensive medicine but an old, cheap-as-chips steroid. That is something to celebrate because it means patients across the world could benefit immediately.”
He added, “Dexamethasone has been used since the early 1960s to treat a wide range of conditions, such as rheumatoid arthritis and asthma. Half of all COVID patients who require a ventilator do not survive, so cutting that risk by a third would have a huge impact. The drug is given intravenously in intensive care and tablet form for less seriously ill patients.”
While researchers and health experts have highly recommended it, the issuance of Dexamethasone is strictly monitored as it could only be given to COVID-19 patients who are under ventilators or have difficulty in breathing.
The drug should be under supervision by Medical experts and cannot be bought to drink at home. Experts have mentioned that the effect of Dexamethasone was most striking among critically ill patients on ventilators. One should not drink it without their Doctor’s prescription or recommendation.
