Dexamethasone: Nigeria to begin trial of COVID-19 new drug
Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, on Thursday said there will be clinical trials of a drug, Dexamethasone for COVID-19 patients.
Recall that the British government had announced that Dexamethasone, a cheap and widely available drug was effective for patients seriously down with COVID-19.
British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson had said UK researchers said the drug has reduced COVID-19 deaths risk.
Dexamethasone reduced death risk for patients in ventilators by one-third and oxygen by one fifth.
Speaking at the PTF’s COVID-19 daily briefing on Thursday in Abuja, Ehanire said clinicians will be directed to consider the drug for their trials and see how it works.
“I did mention that there is a medicine that we are going to ask our clinicians to try. It is not a medicine that you should be using but a medicine that the doctor is to use.
“Luckily this medicine is not new and it is well-known to be used for other purposes as a steroid. It was found to be useful in this case. It is easy to try it out because we know the side effects,” he said.
He, therefore, added that the usual dosage of the drug is well-known and not unavailable.
