Jean-Christophe Goffard, head of the internal medicine department at Erasme hospital, was the guest of Fabrice Grosfilley Wednesday morning. He notably mentioned the treatment of patients with covid-19.
“We have made great progress, because we know better the disease, which is in two phases. The virus first attacks the lungs, then there is an inflammatory phase which makes people very sick, critically, and leads them in intensive care “, he explained.
“And so, we have new treatments. Dexamethasone has been fundamental progress. It is a corticosteroid that decreases the inflammatory response. Paradoxically, it can increase viral duplication, that’s why it must be give at the right time, when the phase is critical and can lead you to intensive care. ”
We have talked a lot about other treatments in the past, but today the correct answer is only this dexamethasone?
“Clearly, this is the only response that has clearly demonstrated efficacy in clinical studies. We forget about hydroxychloroquine, Remdesivir is very disappointing and very expensive. So yes, dexamethasone is the only arsenal we But there is still a lot of work because for this first phase of viral replication, when we are contagious, we must continue to seek: breaking the chains of transmission remains an essential objective in the fight against the coronavirus, and for there is still nothing effective at this level. ”
Doctor Goffard believes that mortality has been reduced “by almost a third“in his hospital since the start of the epidemic. He also encourages everyone to get vaccinated as soon as possible, calling”to responsibility“but not advocating an obligation.
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