Research professor, Tulio de Oliviera, says scientists do not yet fully understand why the Dexamethasone drug is so effective in patients with a severe case of COVID-19.
Results of a study conducted in the UK have been hailed a game-changer in the fight against COVID-19.
The study has shown that the drug reduced one in three deaths in critically ill patients on ventilators.
In the video below, first major breakthrough in treating COVID-19:
Dexamethasone is locally produced by Aspen Pharmacare.
Health Minister Zweli Mkhize says they are immediately able to offer Dexamethasone to patients on ventilators or who are receiving oxygen.
In the video below, Minister Mkhize speaks about the use of Dexamethasone to treat patients:
De Oliviera says the drug is normally used to treat inflammation.
“Scientists, they are not completely sure how the drug saves the number of individuals. What we know is that it reduces like one-third of the people that were ventilated and one-fifth of people that were on oxygen. What they think that has happened is that this is an autoimmune drug normally used to treat many inflammatory or autoimmune conditions and so what they think has happened and now they going to be digging to try to understand more is that it is decreasing inflammation in the body and most probably close to the lungs.”
In the audio below, Dexamethasone effectiveness in treating severe cases of COVID-19:
