A commonly used asthma drug cuts the need to send Covid patients to hospital by 90 per cent and shortens recovery times, Oxford University said today. Budesonide is a steroid sold under the trade name Pulmicort by AstraZeneca Plc and is also used for treating smoker's lung. The 28-day study of 146 patients suggested that those who inhaled budesonide reduced the risk of urgent care or hospitalization by 90 per cent when compared with usual care. 'I am heartened that a relatively safe, widely available and well studied medicine such as an inhaled steroid could have an impact on the pressures we are experiencing during the pandemic.' Results from the Oxford University study are yet to be published in a peer-reviewed journal.

Source: Daily Mail February 09, 2021 22:07 UTC