The WHO has announced that it recommends the use of steroids to treat severe forms of Covid-19 infection after several clinical trials have shown their effectiveness and their effect on reducing mortality.
- The use of steroids can reduce inflammation in patients whose immune system is overreacting to fight infection.
- Corticosteroids, a family of steroids, seem to be the most effective.
- Dexamethasone, another drug from the steroid family, reduces mortality by a third in the most seriously affected patients with Covid-19.
A treatment used to treat severe forms of Covid-19 seems to have proven its effectiveness. A meta-analysis of 7 clinical trials, published Wednesday, September 2 in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), concluded on the effectiveness of steroids in treating severe forms of Covid-19 infection. A publication that led the World Health Organization (WHO) to recommend this treatment.
???? guideline on use of dexamethasone & other corticosteroids advises:
✅ for oral or intravenous use in treatment of patients with severe & critical #COVID19
❌ against use in treatment of non-severe casesMore: https://t.co/eWHzRrYKvO
— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) September 2, 2020
Corticosteroids, the most effective in reducing mortality
Steroids reduce the mortality rate in patients with Covid-19. They would also provide more options for doctors to treat the disease. “The more options, the better”, confirms Doctor Martin Landray, researcher at the University of Oxford, in charge of one of the studies. The results of the meta-analysis are seen as a “big step forward” by Dr Anthony Gordon, a researcher at Imperial College London. The latter wanted to temper by adding “that impressive as they are, these results are not a cure”.
The use of steroids can reduce inflammation in patients whose immune system is overreacting to fight infection. Specifically, corticosteroids, a family of steroids, appear to be the most effective. “Corticosteroids are the only treatment that has been conclusively shown to reduce mortality in patients with Covid-19”, added Jonathan Sterne, author of the meta-analysis and expert in medical statistics at the British University of Bristol, at the washington post.
Dangerous to treat less severe forms
A British study, conducted by researchers at the University of Oxford, revealed last June that dexamethasone, another drug from the steroid family, reduced mortality by a third in the most seriously ill patients with Covid-19. Since then, other studies have concluded on the same effectiveness of steroids. “I am delighted, rejoiced Doctor Derek Angus, researcher at the University of Pittsburgh, author of one of the studies. It’s incredibly reassuring to see that other studies are pointing in the same direction. This is the most important news for us on how we should treat patients.”
The use of steroids should be done with caution. They can weaken patients who have developed milder forms of the disease. “We recommend systemic corticosteroids for the treatment of patients with severe or critical forms of Covid-19specifies the WHO in a press release published on September 2. We suggest not using corticosteroids in the treatment of patients with non-severe forms because the treatment would not bring any benefit and could even prove harmful. Treatment should be under the supervision of a clinician.”
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