Common asthma drug reduces COVID-19 hospitalisations: UK study

Initiating budesonide within seven days of symptoms cut risk by 90%, say Oxford University researchers

Budesonide appears to reduce the need for hospitalisations as well as recovery time for COVID-19 patients if given within seven days of mild symptoms appearing, say researchers at the UK’s University of Oxford.

Their 28-day open label phase 2 trial of 146 patients — half of whom took 800µg of budesonide twice a day — found that inhaled budesonide reduced the risk of urgent care or hospitalisation by 90% when compared with usual care.