Africa Knowledge Management Portal
Informing health decisions and actions
Statement on the use of Dexamethasone for severely ill COVID-19 Patients
Response
Emergency response operations
Description
Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) is aware of the media releases of the preliminary results of a large randomized clinical trial conducted in the United Kingdom, which included dexamethasone, a corticosteroid, as one of the drugs used for the treatment of COVID-19 patients. The investigators reported that administration of oral or injectable dexamethasone resulted in about one-third reduction in mortality among COVID-19 patientsi that required mechanical ventilation and about one-fifth for patients requiring oxygen.