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This is good news, but it doesn't change anything from a public health perspective, because: > Of those who are admitted, most also recover but some may need o
by danans 6y ago
This is good news, but it doesn't change anything from a public health perspective, because:
> Of those who are admitted, most also recover but some may need oxygen or mechanical ventilation.
> And these are the high-risk patients dexamethasone appears to help.
At best this might take a little bit of pressure off the healthcare system in the treatment of the most severe cases. As others pointed, steroids are powerful/dangerous stuff so they won't be using this except in the most advanced cases.
- jpxw 6y agoI’m not sure if the low-dose dexamethasone treatment really is that “dangerous”, frankly. Steroids do have side-effects, but this drug is quite well-known and used frequently. Under medical supervision, and especially if the dosage is low, it seems likely it will be safe.
- rsynnott 6y agoI mean, most people who are dying receive oxygen and/or ventilation. If it does significantly reduce death rate there, that's not nothing.
- danans 6y agoDefinitely not nothing. My point is that this treatment, however effective, isn't effective early enough in the disease's progression such that it allows us to reduce public health response measures by any significant amount, whereas a treatment that was very effective at an earlier stage of the disease would.
- rsynnott 6y agoOh, yeah, definitely. Such a treatment would be a game changer, and this one is not. Still, in the absence of such a treatment, this is very nice to have.