J Med Virol . Are the steroids a blanket solution for COVID-19? a systematic review and meta-analysis

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J Med Virol


. 2020 Sep 3.
doi: 10.1002/jmv.26483. Online ahead of print.
Are the steroids a blanket solution for COVID-19? a systematic review and meta-analysis


Soumya Sarkar ¹ , Puneet Khanna ¹ , Kapil Dev Soni ²



Affiliations

• PMID: 32881007
• DOI: 10.1002/jmv.26483

Abstract

Background: Steroids may play a critical role in the current pandemic of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), given the dearth of specific therapeutic options. This review was conducted to evaluate the impact of glucocorticoid therapy in COVID-19 patients based on the publications reported to date.
Methods: A comprehensive screening was conducted using electronic databases up to 19^th August 2020. The randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and cohort studies evaluating the effectiveness and safety of steroids in patients with COVID-19 are included for the meta-analyses.
Results: Our search retrieved twelve studies, including two RCTs and ten cohort studies, with a total of 15,754 patients. In patients with COVID-19, the use of systemic glucocorticoid neither reduce mortality [Odds ratio (OR =1.94, 95% CI: 1.11 to 3.4, I² =96%)], nor the duration of hospital stay [mean difference (MD =1.18 d, 95% CI: -1.28 to 3.64, I² =93%)] and period of viral shedding [mean difference (MD =1.42 d, 95% CI: -0.52 to 3.37, I² =0%)] CONCLUSIONS: 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. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Keywords: (COVID-19): coronavirus disease; (SARS-CoV-2): severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2; steroids.