Dexamethasone steroid – a major breakthrough in treating Covid-19

Dexamethasone, a cheap genetic steroid has proven to become the first life-saving drug treatment in the Covid-19 pandemic. The low-dose steroid treatment Dexamethasone is part of the world’s biggest trial testing existing treatments to see if they also work for coronavirus, and found it cut the risk of death by a  third for patients on ventilators and those on oxygen it cut by a fifth.

The drug could be a huge benefit in poorer countries with high numbers of Covid-19 patients. The UK government has 200, 000 courses of the drug in its stockpile and says the NHS will make dexamethasone available to patients.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said there was a genuine case to celebrate “ a remarkable British scientific achievement, we have taken steps to ensure we have enough supplies, even in the event of a second peak.”

Prof Chris Whitty the Chief Medical Officer for England said it would save lives around the world.

About 19 out of 20 patients with coronavirus recovers without being admitted to the hospital. Of those who are admitted most also recover but some may need oxygen or mechanical ventilation.  The drug is already used to reduce inflammation in a range of other medical conditions, including arthritis, asthma, and some skin conditions.

 It appears to help stop some of the damage that can happen when the body’s immune system goes into overdrive as it tries to fight off coronavirus.

In the trial, led by a team from Oxford University about 2, 000 hospital patients were given dexamethasone and compared with more than 4, 000 who were not. For patients on ventilators, it cut the risk of death from 40 per cent to 28 per cent. For patients needing oxygen, it cut the risk of death from 25 per cent to 20 per cent.

Chief investigator Prof Peter Horby said: “This is the only drug so far that has been shown to reduce mortality and it reduces it significantly. It’s a major breakthrough”.

Lead researcher Prof Martin Landray said one life could be saved for every eight patients on a ventilator, every 20-25 treated with oxygen. The treatment is up to 10 days of dexamethasone and costs £5 per patient per unit. So essentially it costs £35 to save a life. This drug is globally available.

Dexamethasone does not appear to help people with milder symptoms of coronavirus who do not need help with their breathing.