Dexamethasone proves first life-saving drug for CORONAVIRUS
The research published on Tuesday was led by a team from the University of Oxford and partially funded by the British government.
News Desk- As per a BBC report ” A cheap and widely available drug ” Dexamethasone ” can help save the lives of patients seriously ill with coronavirus ( Covid-19 ) .
About 19 out of 20 patients with coronavirus recover without being admitted to hospital. Of those who are admitted to hospital, most also recover, but some may need oxygen or mechanical ventilation. These are the high-risk patients whom dexamethasone appears to help.
Britain will immediately start giving dexamethasone to coronavirus patients, after a trial showed the steroid saved the lives of one third of the gravest cases, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said Tuesday.
Hancock said Britain began stockpiling the widely available drug when its potential first became apparent three months ago.
“Because we spotted the early signs of the potential of dexamethasone, we’ve been stockpiling it since March,” he said in a video statement.
WATCH: Delighted to announce the first successful clinical trial for a life-saving #coronavirus treatment- reducing mortality by up to a third & further protecting our NHS
This global first exemplifies the power of science- huge thanks to the team, @oxforduni & Jonathan Van-Tam pic.twitter.com/654oPIsT8t
— Matt Hancock (@MattHancock) June 16, 2020
The research published on Tuesday was led by a team from the University of Oxford and partially funded by the British government.
Hancock expressed thanks to the “brilliant scientists” at Oxford.
“UK life sciences are leading the world in vaccine development, in the development of treatments and in immunology,” he said.
In the trial, led by a team from Oxford University, around 2,000 hospital patients were given dexamethasone and were compared with more than 4,000 who did not receive the drug.
