WHO Welcomes U.K. Breakthrough in COVID-19 Treatment

June 17, 2020 (EIRNS)— Initial clinical trials in the United Kingdom have shown that dexamethasone, a corticosteroid, can effectively treat patients who are critically ill with COVID-19. The results demonstrated that the treatment could reduce mortality rates by one-third among patients being ventilated and by one-fifth among those on oxygen. The treatment is only effective on seriously ill patients.

“This is the first treatment to be shown to reduce mortality in patients with COVID-19 requiring oxygen or ventilator support,” the statement quoted WHO Director General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus as saying. “This is great news, and I congratulate the government of the U.K., the University of Oxford, and the many hospitals and patients in the U.K. who have contributed to this lifesaving scientific breakthrough.”

Prof. Peter Horby, Professor of Emerging Infectious Diseases in the Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, one of the chief investigators in the trial research, was quoted by yesterday’s University of Oxford statement as saying

“ ‘Dexamethasone is the first drug to be shown to improve survival in COVID-19. This is an extremely welcome result. The survival benefit is clear and large in those patients who are sick enough to require oxygen treatment, so dexamethasone should now become standard of care in these patients. Dexamethasone is inexpensive, on the shelf, and can be used immediately to save lives worldwide.”