This Low-Cost Drug May Help Reduce COVID-19 Death Toll By 30%

Anil - Jun 23, 2020

This drug is a low-dose steroid namely dexamethasone, which is used to discourage the immune system from overreacting and making a cytokine storm.

As reported by the BBC, doctors have noticed a significant decrease in the risk of COVID-19 death by using a drug for inflammation reduction, which could be the change maker of the ongoing global fight against the virus.

“A major breakthrough” is the comment made by Martin Landray, the professor of medicine and epidemiology at Oxford and the leader of the research team. She also informed that this drug has been the only one that proves its effectiveness in reducing the number of death cases.

Covid 19 1 — This drug is a low-dose steroid namely dexamethasone, which is used to discourage the immune system from overreacting.

This drug is a low-dose steroid namely dexamethasone, which is used to discourage the immune system from overreacting and making a cytokine storm - the main cause of death for those who are severely infected with the COVID-19 virus. As a result, the drug does not work for milder cases, especially the ones who need not ventilator support.

The drug tests are carried out by Oxford University with the participation of 2000 hospital patients. After that, they will be compared to 4000 other patients who were not treated with the drug.

Covid 19 2 — The drug tests are carried out by Oxford University with the participation of 2000 hospital patients.

One other result gained by the research team is their finding of the death toll of patients relying on ventilators has been cut down by a fifth.

And the key point here is the drug is not only cheap but widely available as well. In particular, Prof. Landray estimated that the cost of the whole treatment regimen to save a life now is just nearly 35 euros.

Covid 19 3 — It's still a far cry from the day when dexamethasone is recognized as a standard treatment.

Additionally, this news is published right after the antimalaria drug which has been previously authorized to treat the COVID-19 by the Food and Drug Administration is proven to do be harmful to the patients. Moreover, it should be noticed that this case is not the only one that has been questioned about the real effects after gaining emergency authorization.

Actually, it's still a far cry from the day when dexamethasone is recognized as a standard treatment; however, few people can deny its considerable potential.