NEW YORK: International clinical trials confirmed on Wednesday, September 2, that cheap and widely available steroid drugs can help seriously ill patients suffering from COVID-19. The study includes an analysis which pooled data from seven random clinical trials evaluating three steroids in more than 1700 patients. It showed that each of this drug reduced the mortality rate in patients.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) issued treatment guidance, strongly recommending that such steroids be used only for severely ill patients and not for those COVID positive patients with mild symptoms as such patients are unlikely to benefit and may suffer side effects. Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) published the paper and three related studies, along with an editorial describing the research as an “important step forward in the treatment of patients with COVID-19.”