- Those responsible for the UK clinical trial Recovery have announced that a drug in the steroid family, dexamethasone, is reducing mortality in the most severely ill by a third.
- The World Health Organization (WHO) hailed a "scientific breakthrough".
- This drug does not work for patients with a mild form of the disease, however warned the researchers.
A miracle cure for treating coronavirus patients? Rather, new hope for the most seriously ill patients. Dexamethasone improves the survival of these patients, announced the researchers who work on the British study Recovery. The United Kingdom immediately announced that it has 200,000 ready-to-use treatments in reserve, which will be used immediately to treat the affected patients. Encouraging results, but whose scope seems moderate in France, which is already using this drug on a “large scale”. 20 Minutes takes stock.
What is dexamethasone as a medicine?
This medication is a steroid. Known for its anti-inflammatory effects, this molecule decreases the immune response at high doses. Its use could thus calm the excessive immune reaction of patients suffering from a severe form of Covid-19, called the cytokine storm. Advantage of this drug: it is not expensive, and is immediately available in a large number of countries.
What are its effects on patients with severe form of Covid-19?
According to Recovery officials, "Dexamethasone is the first drug which has been observed to improve survival in the event of Covid-19". Indeed, this molecule has been shown to be effective on severe forms of Covid-19, reducing deaths by a third in patients placed on artificial ventilation, and by a fifth in patients less severely affected, on oxygen but not intubated. "The benefit in terms of survival is significant in patients who are sick enough to need oxygen, for whom dexamethasone should now become the basic treatment," said Professor Peter Horby of the University of Oxford.
How were these results obtained by the Recovery study?
Dexamethasone was one of the first molecules to be included in the Recovery trial, said the Guardian . In this context, 2,104 patients received dexamethasone (orally or intravenously) for 10 days, at a dose of 6 mg per day. Compared to 4,321 other patients who had not received it, the researchers determined that the treatment reduced mortality by a third in patients on artificial ventilation.
In addition, mortality was reduced by a fifth in less severely ill patients who received oxygen through a mask without intubating them. On the other hand, the treatment did not show any benefit for patients who did not require respiratory assistance.
Why you shouldn't get carried away
On the one hand, because the results of Recovery have not yet been published in the form of a detailed study, but have only been the subject of a press release. But also because dexamethasone is "already used on a large scale" in French hospitals, according to infectious disease specialist Karine Lacombe. “Dexamethasone is part of the corticosteroid family. (…) In France, corticosteroids were very quickly given to patients who had Covid-19 very early on because it reduces inflammation in the lungs, ”said the head of the disease department on Radio France Inter. infectious diseases at Saint-Antoine hospital (AP-HP), in Paris.
"What we must remember from the study in England is that they have, without treatment, 40% mortality" in patients hospitalized in intensive care for Covid-19. "We in France, in French hospitals, the mortality was 13% (...) without treatment" other than standard care, said Karine Lacombe, saying she could not explain this difference.
Are there other ways to treat coronavirus?
At this stage, despite a multitude of avenues, no other treatment has had convincing results. In early June, the same Recovery trial concluded that hydroxychloroquine had no beneficial effect against Covid-19.
The Parisian hospital group AP-HP had assured at the end of April that another drug, tocilizumab, reduced "significantly" the risk of dying or going to intensive care in Covid-19 patients in serious condition. But these claims have not yet been substantiated by figures or the publication of a study. Many experts believe that the key to treating Covid-19 will not be a single drug, but a combination of several.
Health
Coronavirus: Detailed study confirms modest efficacy of remdesivir against Covid-19
Health
Coronavirus: Anakinra, a promising drug to treat the most serious cases of Covid-19
- Video
- Health
- epidemic
- Drug
- Covid 19
- Coronavirus