COVID-19: THE GOOD AND THE USELESS

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Much research has taken place for drugs to be used in hospitals to reduce mortality.  We looked at various treatments here.  Bringing this up to date, this latest Lancet article says:

• What works:
• "Corticosteroids in patients with severe and critical COVID-19"
• Dexamethasone reduces deaths by 20-35%
• Hydrocortisone

• What doesn't work:
• "Unless new, high-quality evidence emerges, the aminoquinolines (chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine) appear to have no future in the management of COVID-19
• "Conclusive evidence to support remdesivir is lacking. 
• "There is no good evidence for efficacy of favipiravir"
• "The lopinavir/ritonavir combination showed no clinical benefit"

Whilst improving hospital treatment is important, what we need is drugs and other treatments that moderate the disease pre-hospitalisation:

• to prevent people having to go to hospital
• to reduce the risk of LongCOVID
• to moderate the symptoms and reduce the time needed to recover

As infection rates climb, both in the UK and worldwide, we wait with baited breath.