A life-saving treatment for seriously-ill hospital patients with Covid-19 is being used across the UK from today, following breakthrough results in a UK trial. Dexamethasone, a cheap and widely-available steroid, was shown to reduce deaths among patients on ventilators and on oxygen.
The UK's chief medical officers have recommended its use with immediate effect, stating in an urgent letter that dexamethasone has “a clear place in the management of hospitalised patients with Covid-19”. Health Secretary Matt Hancock confirmed to the Commons that 240,000 doses are in stock and on order, adding: “It is not by any means a cure but it is the best news we have had.”
The drug was tested as part of the world's biggest trial of existing treatments, led by a team from Oxford University. Among about 2,000 hospital patients given dexamethasone, compared with more than 4,000 who were not, the risk of death fell from 40% to 28% for those on ventilators and from 25% to 20% for those on oxygen. This equates to one life saved for every eight ventilator patients and one for every 20-25 oxygen patients.
Marium Zumeer, an 18-year-old from Bradford who received the drug during the trial, described it as “life-saving”. The steroid works by dampening the body's immune response to Covid-19, which can often cause more harm than the virus itself. Chief investigator Prof Peter Horby said it is “the only drug so far that has been shown to reduce mortality – and it reduces it significantly”. He cautioned against its use in non-hospitalised patients, and its use in children is still being studied.
