Ministry adds dexamethasone in Covid-19 treatment protocol

New Delhi, June 27 (PTI): Dexamethasone, an inexpensive and widely used steroid, was included in the treatment protocol for Covid-19 patients in moderate to severe stages of illness by the Union Health ministry on Saturday.

The updated ‘Clinical Management Protocols for Covid-19’ advises the use of dexamethasone, which is already used in a wide range of conditions for its anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressant effects, as an alternative choice to methylprednisolone for managing moderate to severe cases of Covid-19.

Keeping pace with the evolving knowledge about Covid-19, especially in terms of effective drugs, the change has been made after considering the latest available evidence and expert consultation, the Health ministry said.

Union Health Secretary Preeti Sudan has also forwarded the updated protocol to all states and union territories to make necessary arrangements for availability and use of the new protocols and the dexamethasone at the institutional level also, it said.

The Health ministry had on June 13 also allowed the use of antiviral drug remdesivir for restricted emergency use and off-label application of tocilizumab, a drug that modifies the immune system or its functioning, and convalescent plasma for treating Covid-19 patients in the moderate stage of the illness as an “investigational therapy”.

It also recommended hydroxychloroquine in patients during the early course of the disease and not on critically ill patients. Dexamethasone is a corticosteroid drug used in a wide range of conditions for its anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressant effects.