Infectious Disease

Inhaled budesonide in early symptomatic COVID-19 reduced the need for urgent care

09/22/2021

Read for 2 minutes

Source / information

Source:

Ramakrishnan S, et al. ALARM: bronchiectasis and COVID. Presented at: International Congress of the European Respiratory Society; 5-8 September 2021 (virtual meeting).

Disclosure:
The STOIC study was funded by AstraZeneca and the NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Center. Ramakrishnan reports that he has received grants / research support for the STOIC study from AstraZeneca and the NIHR Oxford Biomedical Research Center.

ADD SUBJECT TO EMAIL ALERTS

Receive an email when new articles are published on

Please enter your email address to receive an email when new articles are published on . “data-action =” subscribe “> subscribe

We could not process your request. Please try again later. If this problem persists, please contact [email protected].

Back to Healio

Budesonide inhaled twice a day, given early in the course of COVID-19, reduced the need for urgent medical care, according to results from the STOIC study presented at the European Respiratory Society’s virtual international congress.

“Treatments to prevent worsening from COVID-19 are urgently needed, especially with vaccination programs in Western countries,” Sanjay Ramakrishnan, MD, pulmonologist and clinical research fellow in the Nuffield Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Oxford, UK, told a presentation .

Source: Adobe Stock.

The randomized, open-label STOIC study enrolled 146 adults with chronic respiratory disease and symptoms suggestive of COVID-19 infection within the past 7 days. The participants were randomized to receive inhaled budesonide 800 µg twice daily in addition to the usual treatment of antibiotic therapy with paracetamol and ibuprofen (n = 70; mean age 44 years; 44% women) or standard treatment alone (n = 69; mean age, 46 years; 41% women ).

This study was carried out by the participants at home. Participants were instructed to continue taking budesonide until their COVID-19 symptoms resolved or until they were hospitalized. Each participant completed questionnaires and recorded daily temperatures and blood oxygen saturations.

The primary endpoint was a COVID-19-related urgent visit, emergency room visit, or hospitalization within 20 days. Secondary endpoints included time to self-reported recovery, viral symptoms, patient physiology, and the quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test to substitute for SARS-CoV-2 viral load in the nasopharynx.

In the intention-to-treat analysis, the primary endpoint occurred in 11 (15%) participants in the normal care group compared to two (3%) participants in the budesonide group who had a COVID-19-related urgent care visit, emergency room visit or hospitalization within 20 days (P = 0.009).

Symptoms cleared faster in the budesonide group than in the usual treatment group (median 7 days vs. 8 days; P = 0.007).

In addition, after 14 days, the researchers observed lower symptom scores in the budesonide group compared to the usual treatment group (2% vs. 8%; P = .051). On days 14 and 28, fewer participants in the budesonide group had persistent COVID-19 symptoms than in the normal care group (P = 0.003).

On days 7 and 14 there were no significant differences in blood oxygen levels or nasal viral load. There were also no serious side effects in the participants who received inhaled budesonide; five (7%) participants in the budesonide group reported sore throats and pharyngitis.

“These results have now been replicated through our collaboration with the PRINCIPLE Phase 3 general practice study in the UK, which again showed reductions in primary care, secondary care and hospitalization in addition to a shorter recovery time,” said Ramakrishnan. “We believe that budesonide can and should be used to reduce hospital exposure from COVID-19 worldwide.”

Reference:

ADD SUBJECT TO EMAIL ALERTS

Receive an email when new articles are published on

Please enter your email address to receive an email when new articles are published on . “data-action =” subscribe “> subscribe

We could not process your request. Please try again later. If this problem persists, please contact [email protected].

Back to Healio

Related Articles