A life-saving coronavirus drug has been found

Dexamethasone is a cheap and widely available drug that can save the lives of patients who have become seriously ill with coronavirus, according to new research.

UK experts are calling this a major breakthrough in the fight against the deadly virus. The low-dose steroid treatment can cut the risk of death by a third for patients on ventilators. For those on oxygen, it can cut deaths by a fifth, the BBC reports. 

The drug is part of the world’s biggest trial that is testing existing treatments to see if they could also successfully work on the coronavirus. 

Research has shown that if this drug had been used to treat patients in the UK from the start of the coronavirus pandemic, up to 5,000 lives could have been saved.

The drug is also cheap enough meaning it could have huge benefits to poorer countries that are struggling with high numbers of COVID-19 patients.

Most patients (19 out of 20) recover from coronavirus without being admitted to hospital, but some of those that do need oxygen or mechanical ventilation. It is these high-risk patients that dexamethasone could help. 

The drug is currently used to reduce inflammation in a range other conditions. It also appears to help stop some of the damage that happens when the body’s immune system goes into overdrive. This over-reaction is called cytokine storm and can be deadly. 

In the trial at Oxford University, 2,000 hospital patients were given dexamethasone compared to more than 4,000 who didn’t receive it.

For patients on ventilators, it cut the risk of death from 40% to 28%. For patients needing oxygen, it cut the risk of death from 25% to 20%.

Chief investigator Prof Peter Horby said: “This is the only drug so far that has been shown to reduce mortality – and it reduces it significantly. It’s a major breakthrough.”

Lead researcher, Prof Martin Landray says the findings suggest that for every eight patients on ventilators you could save one life. For patients on oxygen, you could save one life for approx. every 20-25 people treated with the drug.

Pro Landray said: “There is a clear, clear benefit. The treatment is up to 10 days of dexamethasone and it costs about £5 per patient. So essentially it costs £35 to save a life. This is a drug that is globally available.”

Dexamethasone does not appear to help people with milder symptoms of coronavirus – those who don’t need help with their breathing.

Dexamethasone has been used since the early 1960s, treating a wide range of conditions and its new use for coronavirus could have massive impacts across the world. 

Currently, half of all COVID-19 patients require a ventilator do not survive, Dexamethasone could cut this number by a third which would have a massive impact.