Proud to be playing our part in important Covid-19 research
Researchers at NNUH are proud to be playing their part in a national trial that has helped identify the first drug to improve survival rates in certain Covid-19 patients.
Since the launch of RECOVERY (Randomised Evaluation of Covid-19 Therapy), 53 patients at NNUH have been enrolled onto the study, which is run by researchers in Oxford and is funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR).
The first significant results from the study were published yesterday, which found that the use of the steroid dexamethasone cut the risk of death by a third for patients on ventilators and reduced deaths by a fifth for patients on oxygen.
Consultant Eleanor Mishra
Dr Eleanor Mishra, NNUH Respiratory Consultant, said: “This is a very significant development and we are proud to be playing our part in this significant study, which is testing medications that are safely used for other conditions. The use of low dose dexamethasone is going to reduce mortality worldwide, as this is a cheap and readily available drug.
This is now available for treating patients on oxygen or who require ventilation at NNUH because of Covid-19.”
The RECOVERY Trial is a large, randomised controlled trial of possible treatments for patients admitted to hospital with Covid-19. Over 11,500 patients have been randomised to the following treatment arms, or no additional treatment:
- Lopinavir-Ritonavir (commonly used to treat HIV)
- Low-dose Dexamethasone (a type of steroid, which typically used to reduce inflammation)
- Hydroxychloroquine (which has now been stopped due to lack of efficacy)
- Azithromycin (a commonly used antibiotic)
- Tocilizumab (an anti-inflammatory treatment given by injection)
- Convalescent plasma (collected from donors who have recovered from Covid-19 and contains antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 virus).