A team of researchers from the United Kingdom have stumbled upon dexamethasone, a cheap and widely available drug that reduces the number of Covid-19 deaths significantly.
The drug comes as good news to financially struggling countries with researchers estimating that it costs £35 (Ksh. 4,704) to completely cure a severe coronavirus patient.
Speaking to Kenyans.co.ke, Deputy Director at Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) Professor Matilu Mwau who recently conducted a Covid-19 test on Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga noted that the drug is readily available in the country.
"We need to look more into these sorts of drugs, we will eventually find a drug that works but the good news we have had about other drugs have ended up being disappointing.
"It is readily available in the country like now if you fight with your enemy and go to the hospital with a swollen head you will be given dexamethasone," noted Mwau.
The drug which has been described as a breakthrough by UK scientists has shown great success in reducing the death rate among Covid-19 patients.
Dexamethasone is a low-dose steroid treatment that has proved to cut the risk of death by a third for patients on ventilators.
The drug has been used to reduce inflammation in different conditions and halts damage that can be caused when the body's immune system struggles to combat Covid-19.
According to experts should the drug have been used in Covid-19 patients in the UK when the pandemic hit the country about 5,000 lives would not have been lost.
During its trial period by Oxford University, 2,000 patients in hospital were administered with the drug while 4,000 did not get the dose.
Of the 2,000 patients the risk of death reduced from 40% to 28% for patients on ventilators while a reduction of 25% to 20% was seen in patients needing oxygen.
Lead researcher Prof Martin Landray noted that when appropriate, hospital patients should now be given the drug without delay, but people should not go out and buy it to take at home.
