Nutritional Advice El MondoObjectives:
Steroids may play a critical role in the current pandemic of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), given the dearth of specific therapeutic options. Therefore, this review article has been conducted.
Does systemic steroid therapy be effective for reducing mortality, duration of hospitalization and period of viral shedding among COVID-19 patients?
Study design:
This review article included 2 RCTs and 10 cohort studies, with a total of 15,754 COVID-19 patients.
Results and conclusions:
The investigators found in patients with COVID-19, the use of systemic glucocorticoid neither reduced mortality [OR =1.94, 95% CI = 1.11 to 3.4, I2 = 96%], nor the duration of hospital stay [MD = 1.18 d, 95% CI = -1.28 to 3.64, I2 = 93%] and period of viral shedding [MD = 1.42 d, 95% CI = -0.52 to 3.37, I2 = 0%].
The investigators concluded systemic steroid therapy may not be effective for reducing mortality, duration of hospitalization and period of viral shedding. Studies are mostly heterogeneous. Further randomized control trials (RCT) are required.
Original title:
Are the steroids a blanket solution for COVID-19? a systematic review and meta-analysis by Sarkar S, Khanna P and Soni KD.
Link:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32881007/
Additional information of El Mondo:
Find more information/studies on coronavirus right here.