Oxford study shows 'significant' reduction in Covid-19 deaths with cheap treatment

A cheap and widely available steroid treatment has proven effective in reducing the mortality rate among the most severely ill Covid-19 patients.

In a trial led by Oxford University, 2,000 sick were administered a low dose of dexamethasone while another 4,000 patients were not.

The result was a roughly one third reduction in the number of deaths among the most severely ill, those on ventilator support, from approximately 40.0% to 28.0%, and a one fifth reduction, from 25.0% to 20.0%, among those patients requiring oxygen, the BBC reported.

Had it been employed since the beginning of the pandemic it might have saved 5,000 lives.

With a cost of about £5 per patient and being widely-available also meant that it could readily be provided in poorer countries.

The drug works by reducing inflammation of body tissues as the immune system sometimes goes overreacts in what is known as a 'cytokine storm'.

Chief investigator, Professor Peter Horby, told the BBC: "This is the only drug so far that has been shown to reduce mortality - and it reduces it significantly. It's a major breakthrough."

Less severely-ill patients, those not afflicted with more difficult breathing, did not appear to derive any benefit.

The trial has been ongoing since March.