WHO 'strongly recommends' steroids for critically ill coronavirus patients

The World Health Organisation on September 2 said that widely available steroid drugs can help seriously ill patients survive the novel coronavirus. Reports suggest that the WHO issued a new treatment guidance that involves strong steroids for the treatment of severely ill patients. However, this will not be similar for the people with mild infection. 

Steroids recommended for critically ill COVID-19 patients

The editor-in-chief of JAMA, Dr. Howard C. Bauchner reportedly said that steroids are the standard of care now. Reports suggest that after an analysis of 7 international trials, the researchers concluded that treating critically ill patients with corticosteroid drugs reduces the risk of death by 20 per cent. The analysis came from separate trials of low dose hydrocortisone, dexamethasone and methylprednisolone. The researchers reportedly said that this equals around 68 per cent patients surviving after treatment with corticosteroids with around 60 per cent surviving in the absence of corticosteroids.

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According to the reports, the analysis has been published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. It supports the results that were announced in June focussing on dexamethasone as it became the first and the only drug to be able to reduce death rates among critically sick COVID-19 patients.The WHO's clinical care lead, Janet Diaz reportedly said that the agency would now suggest "strong recommendation" of steroids in patients with severe COVID-19. He added that there are 87 fewer deaths per 1,000 patients if corticosteroids are being used.

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Jonathan Sterne, a professor of medical statistics and epidemiology at Britain's Bristol University who worked on the analysis reportedly said that steroids are cheap and easily available. He added that the analysis has confirmed that they are effective in decreasing the number of deaths amongst the people who are severely ill due to the COVID-19 virus. Talking about the trials, he said that the trials were conducted in Britain, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Spain, and the United States and they gave just one conclusion that the drugs are beneficial in the sickest patients regardless of age or sex . 

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(Image Credits: PTI)