Did health experts finally find a cure for COVID-19?
In the latest report of BBC, another cheap and widely available drug, dexamethasone, is said to be effective in helping save lives of COVID-19 patients. This drug is a low-dose steroid treatment and one of the candidate drugs of the world's biggest trial testing existing treatments that aim to find out which of them can work for coronavirus.
Experts say this drug cut the risk of death by a third for patients on ventilators, while those on oxygen, it cut deaths by a fifth. In the United Kingdom, the drug had been used to treat patients with coronavirus since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. The U.K. researchers claimed up to 5,000 lives could have been saved, and could benefit developing countries with high numbers of COVID-19 patients.
The U.K. currently has 200,000 courses of the drug in its stockpile, and NHS will make dexamethasone available to patients, according to a report.
On Monday, June 15, the FDA revoked the emergency use of two malaria drugs: hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine. According to the agency, the malaria drugs, especially hydroxychloroquine, did not demonstrate benefits that "outweigh the known and potential risks" after a careful review.
"Additionally, in light of ongoing serious cardiac adverse events and other serious side effects, the known and potential benefits of CQ and HCQ no longer outweigh the known and potential risks for the authorized use," the agency said.
