(Reuters) – A commonly used asthma treatment appears to reduce the need for hospitalizations as well as recovery time for COVID-19 patients if given within seven days of the onset of symptoms, researchers at Oxford University said on Tuesday said.
The findings were made following a drug study of the steroid budesonide, which was sold by AstraZeneca Plc as Pulmicort and is also used to treat smoker’s lungs.
The 28-day study among 146 patients suggested that inhaled budesonide reduced the risk of urgent care or hospitalization by 90% compared to regular care, Oxford University said.
Researchers said the trial was inspired by the fact that patients with chronic respiratory disease, often prescribed inhaled steroids, were significantly underrepresented in the hospital during the early days of the pandemic among COVID-19 patients. (bit.ly/3q40g1W)
Initial data from the study also found that volunteers treated with budesonide had fever faster and had less persistent symptoms.
“I am delighted that a relatively safe, widely available and well-studied medicine can have an impact on the pressure we are experiencing during the pandemic,” said Mona Bafadhel, chief investigator of the trial.
Pulmicort was previously a lure for coronavirus vaccine manufacturer AstraZeneca, which now offers a newer drug, Symbicort, as an alternative asthma treatment.
Results of the study from the University of Oxford are yet to be published in a peer-reviewed journal.
Reporting by Pushkala Aripaka in Bengaluru; Edited by Ramakrishnan M.