COVID-19: Low dose steroid cuts death in ventilated patients by one third, trial finds

Low dose dexamethasone reduces deaths in patients hospitalised with COVID-19 who need ventilation, according to preliminary results from the RECOVERY trial.

The drug was also found to reduce deaths by one-fifth in other hospitalised patients receiving oxygen only, but no benefit was seen among COVID-19 patients who did not need respiratory support.

The chief investigators from the University of Oxford trial said that the findings represent a “major breakthrough” which is “globally applicable” as the drug is cheap and readily available.

Peter Horby, Professor of Emerging Infectious Diseases at the University of Oxford and a chief investigator on the trial, added, “This is the only drug that has so far been shown to reduce mortality, and it reduces it significantly. It is a major breakthrough.”

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Source: BMJ, 16 June 2020