COVID-19: ’Dexamethasone can save lives,’ states report

Results were announced Tuesday and researchers said they would publish them soon. The study is a large, strict test that randomly assigned 2,104 patients to get the drug and compared them with 4,321 patients getting only usual care

COVID-19: 'Dexamethasone can save lives,' states report

Medical personnel arrive at a swab testing facility to test people who live near or who have visited the Xinfadi Market where a new COVID-19 cluster has emerged, in Beijing on Tuesday. Pic/AFP

Researchers in England say they have the first evidence that a drug can improve COVID-19 survival: A steroid called dexamethasone reduced deaths by up to one third in severely ill hospitalized patients.

The drug was given either orally or through an IV. It reduced deaths by 35% in patients who needed treatment with breathing machines and by 20% in those only needing supplemental oxygen. It did not appear to help less ill patients.

"This is an extremely welcome result," one study leader, Peter Horby of the University of Oxford, said in a statement. "The survival benefit is clear and large in those patients who are sick enough to require oxygen treatment, so dexamethasone should now become standard of care in these patients. It is inexpensive, on the shelf, and can be used immediately to save lives worldwide."

This is the same study that earlier this month showed the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine was not working against COVID-19. The study enrolled over 11,000 patients in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland who were given either standard of care or that plus one of several treatments: the HIV combo drug lopinavir-ritonavir, the antibiotic azithromycin; the steroid dexamethasone, the anti-inflammatory drug tocilizumab, or plasma from people who have recovered from COVID-19 that contains antibodies to fight the virus.

Research is continuing on the other treatments. The research is funded by government health agencies in the United Kingdom and private donors, including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

UK unemployment may hit 1980s level

Unemployment in the UK is widely expected to soon hit levels not seen since the mid-1980s due to COVID-19-induced recession. The number of people claiming job-related benefits rose by a monthly 23.3 per cent in May to 2.8 million. Analysts said unemployment may spike more than 3 million for the first time since 1987.

Defying FDA, US health secretary sanctions HCQ use

Doctors can still prescribe anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine to patients, US Health Secretary Alex Azar said, hours after the FDA withdrew the emergency use authorisation of chloroquine and HCQ in the treatment of COVID 19 patients. The US Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) decision came on Monday after it concluded that the anti-malarial drugs may not be effective to cure the virus infections and lead to greater risks than any potential benefits.

"At this point, hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) and chloroquine are just like any other approved drug in the US. They may be used in hospital, they may be used in out-patient, they may be used at home, all subject to a doctor's prescription," Azar said. "If a doctor wishes to prescribe it, they may do so," the secretary said.

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