<p class="bodytext">The keenly-awaited full results from a UK trial of the steroid dexamethasone were published Friday, confirming its life-saving benefits for Covid-19 patients on ventilators but suggesting it may cause harm if given too early.</p>.<p class="bodytext">A total of 2,104 hospitalized patients were assigned to receive six-milligram daily doses of the medicine for up to 10 days, and 4,321 to receive usual care, with the rate of deaths compared after 28 days.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Among patients on ventilators, the rate of death for patients on the drug was 29.3 percent compared to 41.4 percent on those without.</p>.<p><a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/national/coronavirus-news-live-updates-as-new-lockdown-restrictions-emerge-across-nation-indias-tally-crosses-879-lakh-860261.html"><strong>For latest updates on Coronavirus outbreak, click here</strong></a></p>.<p class="bodytext">In other words, this group saw a 29 percent reduction in mortality, just under a third.</p>.<p class="bodytext">In patients who were given oxygen but through less invasive means, the benefit was smaller -- 23.3 percent on dexamethasone died versus 26.2 who were not on it.</p>.<p class="bodytext">However, there was no benefit among the group who weren't receiving any oxygenation at the time the trial started.</p>.<p class="bodytext">In this cohort, 17.4 percent on the steroid died compared to 14 percent who did not receive it -- suggesting the drug increased their mortality risk.<br /> </p>.<p class="bodytext">This is because the drug works by suppressing the abnormal immune response that damages the body's organs, rather than attacking the virus.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Speaking to AFP in June, leading US scientist Anthony Fauci cautioned that dexamethasone should not be prescribed too soon after a person was infected.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"It had no effect, if not maybe even a suggestion of making things worse early on," he said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"This is perfectly compatible with knowing that early on in infection, you need the immune system to suppress the virus."</p>.<p class="bodytext">The authors of the paper, which appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine, added that getting benefit from the drug "is dependent on a selection of the right dose, at the right time, in the right patient."</p>.<p class="bodytext">They added that, as far as the Covid-19 illness is concerned, for patients who require oxygen, the abnormal immune response seems more responsible for harm than the replication of the virus in the body.</p>.<p class="bodytext">But they cautioned that this hypothesis should not be applied to other viral respiratory illnesses, like SARS, MERS and influenza, without further study as they may have different impacts.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Dexamethasone was adopted into UK practice on June 16, the day when the initial results were announced, and is also recommended by the US National Institutes of Health.</p>.<p class="bodytext">On its website, the NIH cautions that it isn't yet known how well dexamethasone might work in combination with the anti-viral drug remdesivir, which has proven beneficial when used alone.</p>.<p class="bodytext">It adds that patients on the drug should be closely monitored for secondary infections and high blood sugar.</p>.<p class="bodytext">It is also known that use of corticosteroids can also re-activate previous infections that were lying dormant, like the hepatitis B virus or tuberculosis.</p>
<p class="bodytext">The keenly-awaited full results from a UK trial of the steroid dexamethasone were published Friday, confirming its life-saving benefits for Covid-19 patients on ventilators but suggesting it may cause harm if given too early.</p>.<p class="bodytext">A total of 2,104 hospitalized patients were assigned to receive six-milligram daily doses of the medicine for up to 10 days, and 4,321 to receive usual care, with the rate of deaths compared after 28 days.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Among patients on ventilators, the rate of death for patients on the drug was 29.3 percent compared to 41.4 percent on those without.</p>.<p><a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/national/coronavirus-news-live-updates-as-new-lockdown-restrictions-emerge-across-nation-indias-tally-crosses-879-lakh-860261.html"><strong>For latest updates on Coronavirus outbreak, click here</strong></a></p>.<p class="bodytext">In other words, this group saw a 29 percent reduction in mortality, just under a third.</p>.<p class="bodytext">In patients who were given oxygen but through less invasive means, the benefit was smaller -- 23.3 percent on dexamethasone died versus 26.2 who were not on it.</p>.<p class="bodytext">However, there was no benefit among the group who weren't receiving any oxygenation at the time the trial started.</p>.<p class="bodytext">In this cohort, 17.4 percent on the steroid died compared to 14 percent who did not receive it -- suggesting the drug increased their mortality risk.<br /> </p>.<p class="bodytext">This is because the drug works by suppressing the abnormal immune response that damages the body's organs, rather than attacking the virus.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Speaking to AFP in June, leading US scientist Anthony Fauci cautioned that dexamethasone should not be prescribed too soon after a person was infected.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"It had no effect, if not maybe even a suggestion of making things worse early on," he said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"This is perfectly compatible with knowing that early on in infection, you need the immune system to suppress the virus."</p>.<p class="bodytext">The authors of the paper, which appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine, added that getting benefit from the drug "is dependent on a selection of the right dose, at the right time, in the right patient."</p>.<p class="bodytext">They added that, as far as the Covid-19 illness is concerned, for patients who require oxygen, the abnormal immune response seems more responsible for harm than the replication of the virus in the body.</p>.<p class="bodytext">But they cautioned that this hypothesis should not be applied to other viral respiratory illnesses, like SARS, MERS and influenza, without further study as they may have different impacts.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Dexamethasone was adopted into UK practice on June 16, the day when the initial results were announced, and is also recommended by the US National Institutes of Health.</p>.<p class="bodytext">On its website, the NIH cautions that it isn't yet known how well dexamethasone might work in combination with the anti-viral drug remdesivir, which has proven beneficial when used alone.</p>.<p class="bodytext">It adds that patients on the drug should be closely monitored for secondary infections and high blood sugar.</p>.<p class="bodytext">It is also known that use of corticosteroids can also re-activate previous infections that were lying dormant, like the hepatitis B virus or tuberculosis.</p>