On the way to re-election, details about the treatment of U.S. President Trump, who suffered from Corona 19, was revealed.
The US media and experts pointed out that President Trump's condition turned out to be worse than initially known, based mainly on the fact that he was receiving drugs recommended for severely ill patients.
At a press conference by the US presidential medical staff on the 4th (local time), President Trump revealed that he was taking dexamethasone, an inflammation treatment, a type of corticosteroid the day before.
Dexamethasone is a treatment that received attention as it was confirmed to significantly lower the mortality rate of critically ill patients with Corona 19 as a result of a test conducted by a research team at Oxford University in the UK in June.
The mortality rate is reduced by 35% for patients who depend on ventilators and 20% for patients receiving supplemental oxygen therapy, such as President Trump.
Although it is a cheap and effective medicine, it also has its drawbacks.
It is said that there may be side effects that suppress the human immune response.
"The downside of steroids is that they don't work selectively," said Onema Ogbuagu, an associate professor at Yale University, an infectious disease expert. "It's like a double-edged knife because it can interfere with the body's ability to fight viruses."
For this reason, prestigious health care organizations do not recommend taking dexamethasone in mild patients.
"We do not recommend the use of corticosteroids in the treatment of non-serious COVID-19 patients, as it can be ineffective or even harmful," the World Health Organization (WHO) said. Said.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) guidelines also do not recommend dexamethasone for patients who do not require oxygen supplementation.
Therefore, the use of this remedy by President Trump suggests that the condition is not as light, analyzed by US media outlets such as the Washington Post (WP) and Politico.
It is also encouraging the observation that Trump may have had symptoms of pneumonia.
Abra Karan, a physician at Brigham Women's Hospital, told Politico that "the decision to administer dexamethasone shows that President Trump may have affected his lungs from the virus."
"Dexamethasone can cure serious pneumonia," said David Agus, a medical reporter at CBS, adding that the treatment could cause brain-related side effects such as mania.
CBS pointed out that remdesivir, which was started after President Trump was admitted to Walter Reed Military Hospital on the 2nd, is actually not recommended for mild Corona19 patients.
The NIH "recommends prioritizing the use of inpatients requiring oxygen supplementation" because of the lack of data to recommend the use of remdesivir in COVID-19 patients with mild or moderate symptoms. Revealed.
However, clinical trials of remdesivir in patients with moderate symptoms are currently ongoing, NIH said.
Remdesivir, developed by US pharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences, was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for emergency use as a treatment for Corona 19 in May.
Since then, it has been mainly used to treat severely ill patients.
Unlike dexamethasone, it is not clear whether it has an effect on lowering mortality, but it has been shown to accelerate the recovery period for Corona 19.
In addition, medical staff said that President Trump was given a monoclonal antibody drug being developed by US biotechnology company Regeneron right after the diagnosis.
Regeneron is developing drugs to prevent people with early illness from getting worse.
According to a medical briefing, President Trump's blood oxygen saturation temporarily dropped below 94% on the 2nd, but recovered more than the normal range of 95% after receiving about 2 liters of oxygen supplementation.
The next day, oxygen saturation declined again, and the condition was stable after taking dexamethasone.
As a result, President Trump is expected to be discharged soon, but some point out that it is difficult to be 100% optimistic about his condition.
Helen Voucher, director of infectious diseases at Tufts University Hospital, told Politico that "the start of week 2 (after Corona 19 infection) is a stage that requires special attention," and that the condition usually worsens after 7 to 10 days.
New York Medical University Professor Bob Rechita told CBS, "It can change dramatically, like flipping a coin. It means that even if it's okay, it could get worse in just three hours."
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