Steroid hope ‘could have saved 5000’
BY VIVIENNE AITKEN
SCOTS are anxiously waiting to hear if a common steroid drug will be prescribed for seriously ill Covid-19 patients in Scotland after a drug trial showed it cut deaths by a third.
The Scottish Government are awaiting further information about the trial but it is understood NHS England have already begun to use it for the treatment of the virus.
Dexamethasone, which dampens down the immune response, is one of several which has been tested on Scots patients as part of a major global trial.
Greater Glasgow & Clyde patients were among those who were helping to test the drug.
The UK Government is understood to have bought it in bulk in May in case it proved effective in the battle against the disease.
And now Oxford University research has shown it has reduced deaths by one-third in ventilated patients and by one fifth in patients only receiving oxygen.
However, it made no difference to the conditions of patients who did not require respiratory support.
If the drug had been used to treat patients in the UK from the start of the pandemic, the researchers say it could have already saved 5000 lives.
It is already used for conditions such as arthritis, blood, hormone or immune system disorders, allergic reactions, skin and eye conditions, breathing problems, some bowel disorders, and some cancers.
Scotland’s Chief Medical Officer Gregor Smith said: “We are currently working with the EHSC in England to see how we will use the dexamethasone when it is available in the UK for that purpose.”