The Union Health Ministry has given the green signal for dexamethasone to be used as a treatment drug for coronavirus patients with mild to moderate symptoms of the infection. Notably, it is the first proven drug to treat COVID-19 infection.
News agency ANI tweeted about the same. The tweet read, “Union Health Ministry revises clinical management protocol for #COVID19. Glucocorticosteroid dexamethasone now allowed as an alternative to methylprednisolone for moderate & severe #COVID19 patients in need of oxygen support who experience excessive inflammatory response: Statement.”
This comes after a recent Oxford University research study proved that this was found to reduce the risk of death in COVID-19 patients with severe respiratory illness. Following this, WHO supported these research findings, since, the treatment was shown to reduce mortality by about one-third, and for patients requiring only oxygen, mortality was cut by about one-fifth. They also recommended giving Hydroxychloroquine to those patients having mild symptoms.
The Health Ministry on June 13 had also approved the use of Gilead Sciences’ antiviral drug Remdesivir for restricted emergency use and off-label application of tocilizumab, a drug that modifies the immune system or its functioning, and convalescent plasma for treating Covid-19 patients in the moderate stage of the illness as an investigational therapy.
This comes as a huge relief, as India’s coronavirus record had an all-time high on Friday with 18,552 cases while the death toll climbed to 15,685 with 384 fatalities