<p>India on Saturday approved the use of widely available drug dexamethasone to treat Covid-19 patients with moderate and severe symptoms after clinical trials proved its efficacy to reduce mortality.</p>.<p>The Health Ministry revised its ‘Clinical Management Protocol: Covid-19’ to include steroid drug dexamethasone as an alternative to methylprednisolone to treat Covid-19 patients.</p>.<p>India had 5,08,953 Covid-19 patients on Saturday morning after the highest single-day spike of 18,552 new infections on Friday. The death toll too shot up by 384, taking the total fatalities to 15,685.</p>.<p><a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/national/coronavirus-news-live-updates-india-deaths-covid-19-tally-maharashtra-karnataka-delhi-mumbai-bengaluru-icmr-worldometer-info-851629.html">Follow latest updates on the Covid-19 pandemic here</a></p>.<p>The revised clinical management protocol said that dexamethasone, which is used to reduce inflammation in other diseases such as arthritis, has been cleared for patients in need of oxygen support and those who have excessive inflammatory response.</p>.<p>“The drug has been tested on hospitalised patients with Covid-19 in the recover clinical trial and was found to have benefits for critically ill patients and has shown to reduce mortality by about one third for patients on ventilators, and by about one fifth for patients being maintained on oxygen therapy,” an official statement said.</p>.<p>In India, dexamethasone is part of the National List of Essential Medicines and is widely available, the health ministry said.</p>.<p>Dexamethasone, a low-dose steroid, has been on the market for over 60 years and usually serves to reduce inflammation. </p>.<p>Clinical trials by a team of researchers from the University of Oxford administered dexamethasone to more than 2,000 severely ill patients hospitalised with the Covid-19. Among those who could only breathe with the help of a ventilator, it reduced deaths by 35 per cent.</p>.<p>Health Minister Harsh Vardhan chaired a meeting of the Group of Ministers on Covid-19 response to assess the preparedness across the country to deal with the pandemic.</p>.<p>India has set up 1039 dedicated Covid-19 hospitals with 1,76,275 isolation beds, 22,940 ICU beds and 77,268 oxygen supported beds; 2,398 dedicated Covid Health Centres with 1,39,483 isolation beds, 11,539 ICU beds and 51,321 oxygen supported beds.</p>.<p>Besides, 8,958 Covid Care Centres with 8,10,621 beds are now available to combat the infectious pandemic in the country.</p>
<p>India on Saturday approved the use of widely available drug dexamethasone to treat Covid-19 patients with moderate and severe symptoms after clinical trials proved its efficacy to reduce mortality.</p>.<p>The Health Ministry revised its ‘Clinical Management Protocol: Covid-19’ to include steroid drug dexamethasone as an alternative to methylprednisolone to treat Covid-19 patients.</p>.<p>India had 5,08,953 Covid-19 patients on Saturday morning after the highest single-day spike of 18,552 new infections on Friday. The death toll too shot up by 384, taking the total fatalities to 15,685.</p>.<p><a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/national/coronavirus-news-live-updates-india-deaths-covid-19-tally-maharashtra-karnataka-delhi-mumbai-bengaluru-icmr-worldometer-info-851629.html">Follow latest updates on the Covid-19 pandemic here</a></p>.<p>The revised clinical management protocol said that dexamethasone, which is used to reduce inflammation in other diseases such as arthritis, has been cleared for patients in need of oxygen support and those who have excessive inflammatory response.</p>.<p>“The drug has been tested on hospitalised patients with Covid-19 in the recover clinical trial and was found to have benefits for critically ill patients and has shown to reduce mortality by about one third for patients on ventilators, and by about one fifth for patients being maintained on oxygen therapy,” an official statement said.</p>.<p>In India, dexamethasone is part of the National List of Essential Medicines and is widely available, the health ministry said.</p>.<p>Dexamethasone, a low-dose steroid, has been on the market for over 60 years and usually serves to reduce inflammation. </p>.<p>Clinical trials by a team of researchers from the University of Oxford administered dexamethasone to more than 2,000 severely ill patients hospitalised with the Covid-19. Among those who could only breathe with the help of a ventilator, it reduced deaths by 35 per cent.</p>.<p>Health Minister Harsh Vardhan chaired a meeting of the Group of Ministers on Covid-19 response to assess the preparedness across the country to deal with the pandemic.</p>.<p>India has set up 1039 dedicated Covid-19 hospitals with 1,76,275 isolation beds, 22,940 ICU beds and 77,268 oxygen supported beds; 2,398 dedicated Covid Health Centres with 1,39,483 isolation beds, 11,539 ICU beds and 51,321 oxygen supported beds.</p>.<p>Besides, 8,958 Covid Care Centres with 8,10,621 beds are now available to combat the infectious pandemic in the country.</p>
