By Nickie Louise
A new study led by researchers at Oxford University and Queensland University Medical found that a commonly used asthma treatment appears to reduce the need for hospitalizations as well as recovery time for COVID-19 patients if given within seven days of symptoms appearing. The trial was conducted in Britain.
Researchers also said the effect of the inhaler “is equivalent to the efficacy seen following the use of COVID-19 vaccines and greater than that reported in any treatments used in hospitalized and severe COVID-19 patients.”
British and Australian researchers say the clinical trial using a cheap asthma inhaler to prevent COVID-19 patients developing severe symptoms has produced “incredible” results. The findings from the phase 2 randomized study, which was supported by the NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Centre (BRC), were also published on the MedRxiv Pre-Print Server.
According to the study, patients in the trial were given simple steroid inhalers* when they presented at the hospital with symptoms of the disease. The findings from 146 people – of whom half took 800 micrograms of the medication twice a day and a half were on usual care – suggest that inhaled budesonide reduced the relative risk of requiring urgent care or hospitalization by 90% in the 28-day study period. Participants allocated the budesonide inhaler also had a quicker resolution of fever, symptoms, and fewer persistent symptoms after 28 days.
Professor Mona Bafadhel of the University’s Nuffield Department of Medicine, who led the trial, said: There had been important breakthroughs in hospitalized COVID-19 patients, but equally important is treating early disease to prevent clinical deterioration and the need for urgent care and hospitalization, especially to the billions of people worldwide who have limited access to hospital care
Queensland University of Technology (QUT) associate professor Dan Nicolau, one of the lead researchers on the trial at the University of Oxford, said the results showed the method was extremely effective at preventing severe COVID-19 symptoms.
Courtesy: Rifnote.com
