Common asthma drug can reduce COVID hospitalizations by 90% — study

11 February 2021, 2:48 pm

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A common asthma drug can dramatically reduce hospitalizations, symptoms and recovery time among COVID-19 if taken up to a week after the appearance of symptoms, Oxford University researchers have said according to various reports.

Inhaling the steroid budesonide “reduced the risk of urgent care or hospitalization by 90% when compared with usual care,” the Reuters news agency reports, citing the Oxford experts.

The results were reached after a 28-day study of 146 patients.

“I am heartened that a relatively safe, widely available and well-studied medicine… could have an impact on the pressures we are experiencing during the pandemic,” says researcher Mona Bafadhel, according to Reuters.