COVID-19 death rate cut by cheap steroid, according to unpublished data

Enlarge / A close-up of a box of Dexamethasone tablets in a pharmacy on June 16, 2020 in Cardiff, United Kingdom. (credit: Getty | Matthew Horwood)

Researchers at the University of Oxford announced Tuesday that a cheap, readily available steroid drug lowered the risk of death in COVID-19 patients who were enrolled in a randomized clinical trial and required either ventilation or oxygen during their treatment.

According to unpublished data, the steroid dexamethasone reduced the risk of death from 41 percent to about 27 percent in patients who were ventilated, and from 25 percent to 20 percent in patients on oxygen.

If the finding holds up, it would mark the first time in the five-month-old pandemic that researchers have identified a therapeutic that reduces mortality from infections with the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2.

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