To the relief of the global medical fraternity, Oxford University researchers have found that an inexpensive, readily available and widely used drug can cure patients seriously ill with the deadly virus.
Warning: This drug is to be administered by a physician only. Do not self administer
To the relief of the global medical fraternity, Oxford University researchers have found that an inexpensive, readily available and widely used drug can cure patients seriously ill with the deadly virus.
Health experts in UK say, the drug, dexamethasone, when used in low doses, has been hugely successful in the relentless battle against COVID-19.
Dexamethasone is one of the drugs that has been part of trial testing treatments across the world. These trial treatments have been testing various drugs to see if they work for coronavirus. The drug reduced the risk of death from 40% to 28% and for those on oxygen, it cut the risk from from 25% to 20%.
The Oxford researchers who conducted the trial say had the drug been used in treatment right from the start of the pandemic, it could have saved 5000 lives in the UK alone. They said the cheap drug could hugely benefit poor countries with high numbers of COVID-19 patients.
Lead researcher of the trials Professor Martin Landray said, "There is a clear, clear benefit. The treatment is up to 10 days of dexamethasone and it costs about £5 per day per patient (approximately Rs. 480) per patient. So essentially it costs £50 (Rs. 4800) to save a life. This is a drug that is globally available."
This is a hugely comforting news because it means patients across the world could benefit immediately and immensely. The research team that trialled dexamethasone said that the top-line results of this trial have been rushed out because positive implications could be huge globally.