WHO welcomes dexamethasone's effectiveness on COVID-19 patients on ventilators
- 4 years ago
WHO "덱사메타손, 반가운 소식…중증환자에 사용해야"
An initial clinical trial out of the U.K. has shown that a cheap and affordable steroid can be lifesaving for patients who are critically ill with COVID-19.
The World Health Organization has welcomed the news,... but stressed the need for further tests and for it only to be administered under close medical supervision.
Lee Seung-jae has more.
Used since the 1960s to reduce inflammation caused by diseases such as arthritis,... dexamethasone,... is a corticosteroid that has been found to be lifesaving for patients who are critically ill with COVID-19.
Especially for patients on ventilators,... the treatment was shown to reduce mortality by about one-third,... and for patients requiring only oxygen,... mortality was cut by about one-fifth.
According to the latest preliminary findings shared with the WHO,... the benefit was only seen in patients who were seriously ill with COVID-19,... and was not observed in patients with milder cases.
While the latest finding is being seen as a breakthrough in the fight against COVID-19,... the WHO stressed that it's only based on preliminary data.
"It is one of the many breakthroughs we're going to need in order to effectively deal with COVID-19 and as such, we should celebrate that today but it's still just preliminary data. It's from one study. It's very significant, but we also have to see the real data, the full data."
The head of the WHO also stressed the need for caution,... adding that more treatments are needed for those with milder symptoms.
"These drugs should only be used under close medical supervision. We need more therapeutics that can be used to tackle the virus, including those with milder symptoms."
The drug has also been used in the treatment of some cancers,... and has been listed on the WHO's Model List of Essential Medicines since 1977.
It's also currently off-patent and affordable in most countries.
Lee Seung-jae, Arirang News.
An initial clinical trial out of the U.K. has shown that a cheap and affordable steroid can be lifesaving for patients who are critically ill with COVID-19.
The World Health Organization has welcomed the news,... but stressed the need for further tests and for it only to be administered under close medical supervision.
Lee Seung-jae has more.
Used since the 1960s to reduce inflammation caused by diseases such as arthritis,... dexamethasone,... is a corticosteroid that has been found to be lifesaving for patients who are critically ill with COVID-19.
Especially for patients on ventilators,... the treatment was shown to reduce mortality by about one-third,... and for patients requiring only oxygen,... mortality was cut by about one-fifth.
According to the latest preliminary findings shared with the WHO,... the benefit was only seen in patients who were seriously ill with COVID-19,... and was not observed in patients with milder cases.
While the latest finding is being seen as a breakthrough in the fight against COVID-19,... the WHO stressed that it's only based on preliminary data.
"It is one of the many breakthroughs we're going to need in order to effectively deal with COVID-19 and as such, we should celebrate that today but it's still just preliminary data. It's from one study. It's very significant, but we also have to see the real data, the full data."
The head of the WHO also stressed the need for caution,... adding that more treatments are needed for those with milder symptoms.
"These drugs should only be used under close medical supervision. We need more therapeutics that can be used to tackle the virus, including those with milder symptoms."
The drug has also been used in the treatment of some cancers,... and has been listed on the WHO's Model List of Essential Medicines since 1977.
It's also currently off-patent and affordable in most countries.
Lee Seung-jae, Arirang News.