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Dexamethasone & Covid-19: Who makes it, how it works

The race for an effective treatment for Covid-19 has been littered with false starts and uncertain outcomes. To date, no treatment improves the odds of Covid-19 patients surviving. However, one relatively common and inexpensive drug has emerged with the strongest evidence yet of improving Covid-19 survival and mortality in severely ill patients.

A cheap steroid is the first drug shown to reduce death in COVID-19 patients

Although full trial data have not yet been released, several outside commentators hailed the result as a “breakthrough.”

Common Drug Reduces Coronavirus Deaths, Scientists Report

A steroid, dexamethasone, is the first drug shown to help save severely ill coronavirus patients, according to scientists in Britain.

Common Steroid Could Be Cheap and Effective Treatment for Severe COVID-19

The results of a trial that found dexamethasone reduced the risk of death in extremely ill coronavirus patients have yet to be published, but some doctors are already embracing them.

Dexamethasone and the Recovery Trial’s High-Speed Science

In just three months, one British research team identified the first life-saving drug of the pandemic (and helped cancel hydroxychloroquine).

Dexamethasone for Coronavirus Infection

The other thing to emphasize... is that none of these drugs directly alter the pandemic itself. They will save more lives when people get infected, but we really need to try to keep more people from getting infected in the first place, especially now that it’s become more apparent that social distancing and as trivial a thing as public use of face masks can help. We could be mitigating this pandemic with such measures in this country, but in too many regions we don’t seem to be doing that. Eventually, though, what makes this disease go away will be a vaccine.

Dexamethasone hailed as lifesaver for up to a million Covid patients worldwide

“It’s clear that dexamethasone has had a big impact,” noted Horby. “A million is a big number … It’s an estimate that could well be lower than that or higher than that. We don’t know.”

Dexamethasone Improves Survival in Severe Covid-19 Patients, Study Finds

“We have a drug that improves survival [and] the drug is extremely cheap and widely available,” Dr. Horby said in an interview. “It can be given to almost everybody,” with some exceptions, including pregnant women, he said.

Dexamethasone shows promise as a Covid-19 treatment

The research team reported that a 6-milligram daily dose of dexamethasone reduced deaths by one-third in Covid-19 patients on ventilators and reduced deaths by one-fifth for patients receiving just oxygen support.

Dexamethasone: what is the breakthrough treatment for COVID-19?

Dexamethasone has been around since the early 1960s. It is a steroid often given in low doses as an anti-inflammatory. It is used widely for severe asthma, allergies and when joints are painful and swollen. It is also used in autoimmune conditions such as systemic lupus erythematosus or more commonly in rheumatoid arthritis. It’s this effect on inflammation and our immune systems that makes it useful in fighting off the worst effects of COVID-19.

Spike in prescribing dexamethasone to Covid-19 patients may do more harm than good

The Food and Drug Administration has not approved dexamethasone to treat patients with Covid-19 in the hospital or at home. In addition, Covid-19 treatment guidelines from the National Institutes for Health specifically recommend against using dexamethasone use in patients who do not need oxygen, as the RECOVERY trial did not show it benefitted these patients and potentially showed evidence of harm.

How the UK found the first effective Covid-19 treatment — and saved a million lives

The United Kingdom is not a pandemic success story. But its massive Covid-19 trials program is.

WHO

According to preliminary findings shared with WHO (and now available as a preprint), for patients on ventilators, the treatment was shown to reduce mortality by about one third, and for patients requiring only oxygen, mortality was cut by about one fifth.