Tunisia-Anis Guellouz: Dexamethasone reduces death risk in severe COVID-19 patients

“Dexamethasone reduces death risk in severe COVID-19 patients hospitalised in intensive care whether under oxygen or on respirator according to a UK research which findings were not published yet,” announced member of the Scientific Committee on the Fight against Coronavirus and Specialist in pharmacology Anis Guellouz.

In a statement to the TAP, Guellouz said that Clinical trials involving 11,500 patients were performed in 170 hospitals,  4,000 patients only required oxygen while Dexamethasone was helpful in treating a further 2,200. Other protocols of care, including chloroquine, were used for other patients.

“These trials revealed that approximately 5,000 deaths were avoided in the UK among critical COVID-19 patients treated with dexamethasone, ” he added.

This protocol of care, which proved to be very effective, was used in Tunisia for the sake of research and experimentation.

“The drug is available in pharmaceutical laboratories in Tunisia or through the channels of distribution of the Central Pharmacy,” he said.

Source: TAP