Widely used steroid shown to improve COVID-19 survival

The steroid dexamethasone reduced deaths in COVID-19 patients who needed breathing assistance, according to unpublished findings by researchers based at the University of Oxford in England. The researchers estimated the inexpensive drug could prevent death in one of every eight patients on a breathing machine and one in 25 patients receiving oxygen alone. The drug did not appear useful in less ill patients. Steroids reduce inflammation, which can develop in COVID-19 patients as the disease progresses if the immune system overreacts to fight the infection. (AP story, 6/16/20)