New Delhi (NVI): Japan’s health ministry has approved dexamethasone, a widely used steroid, as a second treatment for patients suffering from coronavirus, reports Japan Times.
The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry included dexamethasone as a government-approved drug in a revised version of its handbook for coronavirus treatment.
According to the handbook, revised last Friday, dexamethasone showed promise in a clinical study performed by the University of Oxford in the UK.
Moreover, dexamethasone has drawn attention since it was reported in Britain last month that the drug reduced deaths among patients with severe cases of COVID-19.
A drug inexpensive and easy-to-obtain is used to treat a wide range of conditions including lung disease.
Last month, the UK government authorised the drug for the treatment of COVID-19 on the National Health Service (NHS), after the positive data report from the recovery trial, Japan Times reported.
During the trial, around 2,100 patients received dexamethasone compared to 4,300 patients who were not.
In addition, the University of Oxford team said that the drug reduced deaths by a third among ventilated patients and by a fifth among patients receiving oxygen only. While the death rate did not change for patients who did not require respiratory support.
However, taking into account the results of the Oxford study, the US National Institute of Health (NIH) revised its guidelines to recommend that the drug be administered to ventilated patients and those requiring oxygen injection.
-RJV
