MANILA, Philippines — The widely-available steroid dexamethasone—hailed as a breakthrough to help reduce deaths from coronavirus disease (COVID-19)—is not a “magic pill” against the severe respiratory illness, the Department of Health said.
In a media forum Wednesday, DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire expressed concern that the public might think dexamethasone is a “magic pill” for COVID-19 after clinical trials in United Kingdom showed the drug improved the survival of coronavirus patients.
Related Stories
“It is not,” Vergeire said.
“Dapat maipakalat natin sa mga tao na hindi tayo bibili sa drug stores para inumin ito para ma-prevent na magkaka-COVID-19 tayo,” she added.
(We should inform the public that we shouldn’t buy this from drug stores and take it to prevent COVID-19.)
Preliminary results from a study of University of Oxford researchers said dexamethasone reduced deaths by 35% among those who could only breathe with the help of a ventilator and reduced deaths of those receiving oxygen by a fifth.
The health official stressed the study needs to be peer-reviewed first before its findings are deemed acceptable.
“Hihintayin natin ‘yung resulta ng peer review na ‘yun para ang ating mga eksperto dito mapag-aralan at masabi kung talagang pwedeng gawin dito sa ating mga pasyente,” Vergeire said.
(We will wait for the results of the peer review so our experts could study if this could be given to our patients.)
Currently, there are no treatments and vaccines approved for COVID-19.
The new coronavirus has so far infected 26,781 people in the Philippines, with 1,103 deaths. — Gaea Katreena Cabico with report from Agence France-Presse
Related video: