Researchers in the UK have discovered two drugs that can reduce the chances of death due to Covid-19, which has already had more than two million lives in the world, of which more than 88,500 have been registered in that country.
According to a BBC News article, these are two “life-saving anti-inflammatory drugs for every 12 people receiving treatment”.
Drugs, administered by drip, are tocilizumab and sarilumab, which adds to the favorable effects already obtained with a cheap steroid drug called dexamethasone.
The finding was made by researchers who performed a test in the intensive care units of the National Health Service (NHS) of the United Kingdom, for its acronym in English.
“Treatments speed up the recovery of patients and reduce by about a week the time that critically ill patients have to spend in intensive care,” continues the BBC article by Michelle Roberts, health editor.
Despite the high price (around $ 1,000 to $ 1,350 per patient), experts say the value is less than the daily cost of an intensive care bed, around $ 2,700.
“For every 12 patients you treat with these drugs, you would hope to save a life. It’s a tremendous effect,” Professor Anthony Gordon, principal investigator at Imperial College London, told the BBC.
These drugs reduce inflammation, which can be accelerated in patients with covid-19 and cause damage to the lungs and other organs.
result
According to the REMAP-CAP study conducted in six different countries, including the United Kingdom, 36% of covid-19 intensive care patients receiving standard care died.
While the figure fell by a quarter in the supply of new drugs within 24 hours after patients were admitted to intensive care.
For their part, the British Secretary for Health and Social Care, Matt Hancock, and Professor Stephen Powis, the NHS’s national medical director, celebrated the finding and saw it as another positive development in the ongoing fight against the virus.
Recommendation
Experts advise doctors to administer it to any coronavirus patient whose condition is deteriorating, despite treatment with dexamethasone and who needs intensive care.
Both tocilizumab and sarilumab have been added by the British Government to the list of restricted exports.
Michelle Roberts, editor of the BBC News article, points out that the results of this research have not yet been reviewed by other experts and have not been published in a medical journal.