Researchers found first drug proven to reduce COVID-19 mortality rate

• England’s researchers have found the first drug proven to reduce COVID-19 mortality rate.
• The drug, a steroid called dexamethasone, reduced deaths by up to 35% in severely ill patients.
• “Dexamethasone is inexpensive, on the shelf, and can be used immediately to save lives worldwide,” one of the study leaders advised.

England’s researchers have announced on Tuesday that they found the first drug proven to reduce COVID-19 mortality rate. The drug, a steroid called dexamethasone, reduced deaths by up to one third in severely ill hospitalized patients.

The study, which will be published soon, involved randomly assigning 2,104 patients to receive the drug and comparing them with 4,321 patients receiving only the usual care.

Dexamethasone was administered either orally or through an IV. It appeared to be most effective for severe cases.

For patients in need of breathing machines, it reduced deaths by 35%. For those only needing supplemental oxygen, it reduced deaths by 20%. Less ill patients did not seem affected.

One of the study leaders, Peter Horby from the University of Oxford, remarked, “The survival benefit is clear and large in those patients who are sick enough to require oxygen treatment, so dexamethasone should now become standard of care in these patients.”

“Dexamethasone is inexpensive, on the shelf, and can be used immediately to save lives worldwide,” Horby added.

The same study revealed earlier this month that the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine was ineffective against the coronavirus.

The study involved more than 11,000 patients in England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.

The patients were given either standard care or received an addition of one of several treatments: the steroid dexamethasone, the antibiotic azithromycin, the HIV combo drug lopinavir-ritonavir, the anti-inflammatory drug tocilizumab, or plasma from people who have recovered and have COVID-19 antibodies to fight the virus.

Other treatments are still being studied.

The United Kingdom’s government health agencies and private donors, including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, helped fund the research.

Source: Aol.com