7 trials suggest common steroids can reduce coronavirus death risk

A collection of studies have discovered another viable — and easily accessible — coronavirus treatment.

Common steroids have proven effective in reducing the risk of death for severely ill COVID-19 patients, a World Health Organization analysis of seven clinical trials published Wednesday in the the Journal of the American Medical Association has found. Thanks to these positive results, the WHO is recommending these steroids be a part of "standard care" for "severe and critical" COVID-19 cases, Stat News reports.

The seven randomized clinical trials used three common steroids to treat 1,700 severely ill COVID-19 patients, seemingly resulting in a one-third reduction in the death rate among them. Dexamethasone led to a 36 percent drop in the death rate among 1,282 patients in three trials, while hydrocortisone reduced the death rate by 31 percent in 274 patients. An additional editorial in JAMA from two American medical professors added to the WHO's findings, saying the corticosteroids should be "first-line treatment for critically ill patients with COVID-19."

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In its updated health guidance, the WHO said corticosteroids should be used on severely ill patients for 7–10 days. Anyone with a mild case of coronavirus should not get the steroid treatment, as it would "rapidly deplete global resources and deprive patients who may benefit from it most as potentially life-saving therapy."