Dept. of Coronavirus Good News More than 1,500 treatment studies are underway world-wide.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/dept-of-coronavirus-good-news-11592606957?mod=opinion_lead_pos4
Alarming headlines about surging Covid-19 cases in some states dominated the news this week, but there was some good news: A University of Oxford drug trial found that a low-cost steroid can substantially reduce deaths in severely ill patients. As results from more studies roll in this summer, improved treatments could blunt the impact of any second wave.
The randomized trial compared 2,100 hospitalized patients who received the steroid dexamethasone at low-to-moderate doses for 10 days with 4,300 controls receiving standard hospital care. Dexamethasone reduced fatalities among patients receiving supplemental oxygen by 20% and by a third among those on mechanical ventilators. The drug had no impact on less sick patients.
Oxford researchers estimated that the drug could have prevented 5,000 deaths in the United Kingdom had doctors used it to treat the sickest patients at the outset of the pandemic. “For less than £50 (US$63), you can treat eight patients and save one life,” said Oxford epidemiologist Martin Landray. Dexamethasone is the first drug shown in a large clinical trial to significantly reduce Covid deaths among the severely ill. Another trial last month found that Gilead’s antiviral drug remdesivir reduced the duration of hospitalization on average to 11 days from 15 but did not reduce deaths.
Remdesivir could help make more hospital beds available in hot spots, but antivirals probably won’t be able to save severely ill patients experiencing a hyperactive immune response known as “cytokine storms.” Dexamethasone and other anti-inflammatory drugs that are being studied in Covid patients can help tamp down the immune system.
“When you’re so far advanced that you’re on a ventilator, it’s usually that you have an aberrant or hyperactive inflammatory response that contributes as much to the morbidity and mortality as any direct viral effect,” Anthony Fauci of the White House virus task force said in response to the Oxford study.
Patients will respond differently to different therapies at different stages of the disease. Benefits (and adverse effects) will also vary based on whether patients have underlying conditions like diabetes. More than 1,500 studies on treatments are underway or have been completed around the world.
Over the last two weeks coronavirus deaths in the U.S. have fallen 45% while cases have increased 6%. Earlier and better treatments are already saving lives and will enable society to cope with the virus until we get a vaccine.
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