(Reuters) -British scientists will be studying whether higher doses of a cheap and widely used steroid called dexamethasone could work better for patients with severe COVID-19 compared to the standard low doses, they said on Thursday.
Last year, the same scientists conducting the large trial, dubbed RECOVERY, showed https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-steroid-idUSKBN23N1VP that dexamethasone was able to save the lives of COVID-19 patients in what was called a “major breakthrough” in the coronavirus pandemic.
They had found that a 6 mg daily dose of dexamethasone, which is used to reduce inflammation in diseases such as arthritis, cut death rates by around a third among the most severely ill COVID-19 patients in hospitals.
“Given how quickly the Omicron variant is spreading, we can expect to see patients admitted to hospital with severe COVID-19 for a while to come,” said Peter Horby, an Oxford University professor co-leading the trial.
“This makes it very important that we continue to explore ways to further improve the care of patients with severe COVID-19.”
RECOVERY will compare a higher dose of 20 mg of dexamethasone given once daily for five days, followed by 10mg once-daily for a another five days, to the usual low dose treatment given for up to ten days, the trial’s website showed https://www.recoverytrial.net/news/recovery-trial-to-investigate-whether-higher-doses-of-dexamethasone-deliver-greater-benefit-for-patients-with-severe-covid-19?ref=image.
The trial is backed by the UK government and Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates and former wife Melinda French’s charity.
Last week, the scientists began studying GSK and Vir Biotechnology’s antibody-based COVID-19 drug as a possible treatment for hospitalised patients.
(Reporting by Pushkala Aripaka in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)
