(Image source from: outlookindia.com)

Steroids reduced the risk of death in the first month by about one-third compared to the placebo treatment or usual care alone in these seriously ill patients who needed extra oxygen.

New studies confirm that multiple types of steroids improve the survival of severely ill COVID-19 patients cementing cheap drugs as a standard of care.

An analysis of pooled results from seven studies led by the World Health Organization and published on Wednesday by the Journal of American Medical Association found that the steroids reduced the risk of death by about one third compared to placebo treatment or usual care alone in the seriously ill patients who need oxygen support and are in intensive care units of hospitals.

Steroid drugs are inexpensive, widely used, and have been used for decades. They reduce inflammations which is sometimes seen in the coronavirus patients as the immune system overreacts to fight the information.

This overreaction damages the lungs and can prove fatal. These drugs are not the same ones that are used or misused by the athletes for enhanced performance.

In June, a huge study let by Oxford University found out that a steroid called dexamethasone cuts the death rate by up to 35 percent in the hospitalized COVID-19 patients who need the treatment with the help of breathing machines and by 20 percent in those patients who need extra oxygen.

These drugs might not help mild to moderate symptomatic COVID-19 patients and can also prove harmful at this stage of illness.

The results of the usage of these drugs have changed and prompted many other studies that were testing the steroids to stop so that more people could be given the drug for treatment.

The new analysis looked at the results from six of those studies that were stopped early plus severe patients in the Oxford study to see if all types of steroids were similarly effective and concluded that they are.

There were 222 deaths among 678 patients given a steroid and 425 deaths among the 1025 patients who were given a placebo for treatment.

The WHO issued treatment advice on Wednesday recommending steroids for patients with severe COVID-19 symptoms and suggested not to use them for less sick patients.

Treatment guidelines in the US now recommend dexamethasone, or others only when it is not available for hospitalized COVID-19 patients needing extra oxygen but that could change with the new information.

By Gayatri Yellayi