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Countries should stock up on steroids now, the WHO advised on Wednesday, Sept. 2.
The steroid dexamethasone reduced COVID-related deaths by one-third of hospitalized patients who required ventilators and one-fifth of patients who were put on oxygen, according to a recent study by UK-based RECOVERY.
For more than a decade, the drug has been used in the treatment of asthma.
Given that COVID-19 patients with severe cases often suffer from acute lung inflammation, like sufferers of asthma attacks, researchers with the large U.K.-based medical trial RECOVERY (Randomized Evaluation of COVID-19 Therapy) chose to test it along with Lopinavir-Ritonavir (commonly used to treat HIV) and controversial Hydrochloroquine in March of this year.
While the latter two drugs were found to have "no clinical benefit," according to the study's results, the use of the steroid dexamethasone reduced COVID-related deaths by one-third of hospitalized patients who required ventilators and one-fifth of patients who were put on oxygen.
The study included 11,500 patients across 175 U.K. hospitals. Of those patients, 2,104 received 6 milligrams of dexamethasone daily for 10 days, while 4,321 patients received typical care for the virus.
The compelling RECOVERY trial study prompted the WHO to collaborate with the nonprofit Magic Evidence Ecosystem Foundation (MAGIC) to conduct seven more randomized trials of the steroid, informing their Sept. 2 endorsement of the treatment.
Neither the RECOVERY trial study nor the WHO recommends the use of these steroids in patients with symptoms that are not severe.
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