COVID-19: Health Ministry recommends use of Dexamethasone for moderate to severe patients

As India's COVID tally crosses the 5 lakh mark, the Union Health Ministry has included the use of Dexamethasone as an alternative to Methylprednisolone for managing moderate to severe COVID-19 cases. Dexamethasone is a corticosteroid drug used in a wide range of conditions for its anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressant effects. According to sources, the Dexamethasone drug has been tested in hospitalized patients with COVID-19 in the Recovery clinical trial and was found to have benefits for critically ill patients and has been shown to reduce mortality by about one third for patients on ventilators, and by about one fifth for patients being maintained on oxygen therapy.

The Health Ministry in a fresh clinical management protocol for managing COVID-19 cases stated that the  Dexamethasone will be used as an alternative choice to Methylprednisolone for managing moderate to severe cases of COVID-19. The ministry added that the change has been made after considering the latest available evidence and expert consultation. The drug is also a part of the National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM) and is widely available.

Notably, on June 17, the University of Oxford in a press statement said that Dexamethasone reduced deaths by one-third in ventilated patients and by one fifth in other patients receiving oxygen only. However, there was no benefit among those patients who did not require respiratory support. 

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India's COVID Recovery Rate Goes Over 58%

On Saturday, India's Coronavirus recovery rate surged to over 58 percent with around 3 lakh cured and discharged patients, said Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan. This statement comes as India on Saturday crossed 5 lakh-mark with record highest spike of 18,552 cases of coronavirus reported in the country in the past 24 hours.

The Health Minister further said that 5 percent of the patients came from eight states and Union Territories and not just this over 87 percent of the unfortunate deaths due to the disease also came from these eight states.

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