A COMMON drug that costs just £5 can slash the risk of dying from coronavirus by a third in the sickest patients, British experts claim.
Dexamethasone - a widely available steroid - is the first treatment shown to improve survival against Covid-19.
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Oxford University scientists leading the UK-based clinical trial claim their findings are the “biggest breakthrough” yet against the killer virus.
And if the cheap drug had been available at the start of the pandemic, up to 5,000 Brit lives would have been saved, they said.
It will now be immediately rolled out to all high risk cases across the NHS.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said: “Because we spotted the early signs of the potential of dexamethasone we’ve been stockpiling it since March.
"So we now have 200,000 courses ready to go and we’re working with the NHS so that the NHS-standard treatment for Covid-19 will include dexamethasone from this afternoon.”
Recovery trial
More than 11,500 patients from 175 NHS hospitals have been enrolled on the Recovery trial since it was set up in March to test a range of potential coronavirus treatments.
In the dexamethasone study, 2,104 patients received 6mg of dexamethasone once a day by mouth or intravenous injection for 10 days.
Their outcomes were compared with a control group of 4,321 patients.
Over a 28-day period, the mortality rate among patients requiring ventilation was 41 per cent, and for those needing oxygen it was 25 per cent.
Among those not requiring respiratory intervention the figure was 13 per cent.
The study revealed the steroid reduced deaths by a third in ventilated patients and a fifth in people needing oxygen.
There was no change in deaths among patients who did not require respiratory support.
This is the only drug that has so far shown to reduce mortality, and it reduces it significantly
Peter Horby
Peter Horby, professor of emerging infectious diseases at the university's Nuffield Department of Medicine, and one of the chief investigators for the trial, described it as "an extremely welcome result".
"This is the only drug that has so far shown to reduce mortality, and it reduces it significantly. It is a major breakthrough, I think," he said.
"Dexamethasone is inexpensive, on the shelf, and can be used immediately to save lives worldwide."
He said an alert had gone out to all NHS trusts to give suitable Covid patients the drug with immediate effect.
Martin Landray, professor of medicine and epidemiology at the Nuffield Department of Population Health, and another chief investigator, said: "Covid-19 is a global disease - it is fantastic that the first treatment demonstrated to reduce mortality is one that is instantly available and affordable worldwide.
"It's been around for probably 60 years.
"It costs in the order of £5… for a complete course of treatment in the NHS, and substantially less - probably less than one dollar - in other parts of the world, for example in India."
Many of the sickest Covid victims see their immune system go into overdrive, leading to damaging inflammation.
It costs in the order of £5… for a complete course of treatment in the NHS
Martin Landray
Medics think low-dose dexamethasone helps protect the lungs and reduce the severity of disease.
NHS Chief Executive Sir Simon Stevens said: "NHS hospitals, researchers and clinicians have worked together at breakneck speed to test new treatments for Covid-19, and it is amazing to see work that would normally take years bear fruit in just a matter of months.
“This research agility is not only important for coronavirus patients, but augurs well for the streamlined innovation that the NHS and the UK life sciences now must pioneer."
'Huge breakthrough'
Professor Stephen Powis, NHS medical director added: “This is a huge breakthrough in our search for new ways to successfully treat patients with covid, both in the UK and across the world.
"It is thanks to NHS staff and patients who participated in the trial that from now, we are able to use this drug to dramatically improve Covid-19 survival for people in hospital who require oxygen or ventilation.”
There are currently no approved treatments or vaccines for Covid-19, which has killed more than 431,000 globally including more than 41,000 in the UK.
Dr Nick Cammack, whose in charge of fast-tracking Covid-19 Therapeutics at the Wellcome Trust, said: “This is a major breakthrough.
"Dexamethasone is the first and only drug that has made a significant difference to patient mortality for Covid-19.
"Potentially preventing 1 death in every 8 ventilated patients would be remarkable.
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"While this study suggests dexamethasone only benefits severe cases, countless lives will be saved globally."
He added: "It is highly affordable, easy to make, can be scaled up quickly and only needs a small dosage.
"Any and every successful treatment against Covid-19 must be made available to everyone who needs it globally, regardless of their ability to pay."
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https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiVmh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LnRoZXN1bi5jby51ay9uZXdzLzExODc1OTIzL2RleGFtZXRoYXNvbmUtZHJ1Zy1jdXRzLXJpc2stY292aWQtZGVhdGgtdGhpcmQv0gFaaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cudGhlc3VuLmNvLnVrL25ld3MvMTE4NzU5MjMvZGV4YW1ldGhhc29uZS1kcnVnLWN1dHMtcmlzay1jb3ZpZC1kZWF0aC10aGlyZC9hbXAv?oc=5
2020-06-16 13:42:28Z
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