Hydroxychloroquine for coronavirus has ‘no effect’ in clinical trials: Dr. Badley
Mayo Clinic Covid-19 Research Task Force chair Dr. Andrew Badley on discontinuing the use of hydroxychloroquine to treat coronavirus and how the side effects outweigh any benefits.
Researchers in England say they have the first evidence that a drug can improve COVID-19 survival: A steroid called dexamethasone reduced deaths by up to one third in severely ill hospitalized patients.
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Results were announced Tuesday and researchers said they would publish them soon. The study is a large, strict test that randomly assigned 2,104 patients to get the drug and compared them with 4,321 patients getting only usual care.
WHAT IS THE COALITION FOR EPIDEMIC PREPAREDNESS INNOVATIONS?
The drug was given either orally or through an IV. It reduced deaths by 35% in patients who needed treatment with breathing machines and by 20% in those only needing supplemental oxygen. It did not appear to help less ill patients.
A medical staffer holds up a phone in front of a Covid-19 patient for a video call with relatives at Bergamo’s Papa Giovanni XXIII hospital, northern Italy, Friday, April 3, 2020. (Claudio Furlan/LaPresse via AP) "This is an extremely welcome result," one study leader, Peter Horby of the University of Oxford, said in a statement. "The survival benefit is clear and large in those patients who are sick enough to require oxygen treatment, so dexamethasone should now become standard of care in these patients. Dexamethasone is inexpensive, on the shelf, and can be used immediately to save lives worldwide." WHY IS BILL GATES IN THE FIGHT AGAINST CORONAVIRUS? This is the same study that earlier this month showed the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine was not working against the coronavirus. The study enrolled more than 11,000 patients in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland who were given either standard of care or that plus one of several treatments: the HIV combo drug lopinavir-ritonavir, the antibiotic azithromycin; the steroid dexamethasone, the anti-inflammatory drug tocilizumab, or plasma from people who have recovered from COVID-19 that contains antibodies to fight the virus. Research is continuing on the other treatments. The research is funded by government health agencies in the United Kingdom and private donors including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ON FOX BUSINESS Source: Read Full Article