Budesonite: Can This Asthma Drug Speed Up Coronavirus Recovery at Home?

A UK trial claims that budesonide, a low-cost medication widely used to treat asthma, can help people at home recover more quickly from COVID-19.

University of Oxford research team said two puffs of budesonide twice a day could help many over-50s with early symptoms all over the world.

There are also early indications that the drug can reduce hospitalizations.

GPs will now recommend it to handle COVID-19 on a case-by-case basis, according to the NHS.

Apart from paracetamol, there are currently few options for treating people with COVID-19 who are not in a hospital.

This readily available asthma medication works in the lungs, where coronavirus can cause severe harm and may help at-risk patients heal faster at home with COVID-19.

Prof Stephen Powis, NHS England's national medical director, said he was "delighted" with the trial results so far and that GPs could recommend it after having a "shared decision discussion" with patients.

Community Treatment

Prof Mona Bafadhel, a respiratory doctor who participated in the Principle trial led by Oxford, said the findings were "something we should be excited about."

"We are helping the patient as much as possible, as early as possible - in the community," she said.

Asthma patients were under-represented among critically ill hospital patients with COVID-19 early in the pandemic. The medications they were taking to treat their disease were believed to be the cause.

More than 1,700 people at high risk of becoming seriously ill with COVID-19 took part in the study. All of which were over 50 and either had an underlying health condition or were over 65 and had no health issues.

Researchers gave a budesonide inhaler to 751 people to use twice a day for the first two weeks of symptoms at home.

The trial results showed that this group benefited from Covid three days faster than a control group provided standard treatment, including rest and paracetamol.

And, compared to less than a quarter of those in the other category, a third of those taking inhaled budesonide recovered within the first 14 days of using it.

There were also early indications that marginally fewer people taking Covid were admitted to hospitals (8.5 percent versus 10.3 percent), but more evidence is required to confirm this, as well as any drop in Covid-related deaths, according to the researchers.

The study, which has not yet been peer-reviewed per Express and Star, indicates that the procedure has a high likelihood (0.999) of being better than the current standard of care.

The trial's final results, which are expected to provide more details, are due at the end of April.

Prof Bafadhel explained that budesonide, like other coricosteroids inhaled into the lungs, "works at the site of the virus where it is likely to be having the most effect and is well known to minimize inflammation."

According to laboratory studies, the drug also inhibits viral replication.

Associated with Patients at higher risk, according to Prof Gail Hayward, a GP and trial investigator may be given the inhaler as part of their NHS care. A single inhaler is estimated to cost about £14.

"We now have the evidence to treat my patients at home," she said, but she also needs an official response from the Department of Health.

In February, a smaller, earlier-stage trial on the drug showed encouraging results.

The Principle research, led by Oxford University, is the most recent UK trial to report promising results in the hunt for Covid treatments. BBC said Experts discovered a steroid named dexamethasone last year to save the most chronically ill hospital patients' lives. A variety of other medications and therapies have also shown promising results.

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