Steroid use too early may be causing drop in oxygen: AIIMS chief

New Delhi, May 04: Amid an increased demand for medicines to treat coronavirus, AIIMS Director Dr Randeep Guleria has warned against indiscriminate prescription of steroids, as well as CT scans and tests, for those with mild symptoms. increased demand for medicines to treat coronavirus.

"We have to understand that taking steroids at the early stage can give more stimulus to virus replication. In many cases, mild cases are becoming severe and patients are reporting severe pneumonia. Steroids have no role in the first five days of illness," Guleria said.

He further said that drugs like Remdesivir, Plasma, Tocilizumab are authorised only for emergency use as there are limited data on the benefits. Also, the timing of when these drugs is administered is very important.

AIIMS chief also warned against a number of early ways of Covid-19 treatment, which can later prove harmful. He said that CT scans are required only for moderate illness and those getting admitted.

''CT-SCan and biomarkers are being misused. There is no advantage in doing CT-Scan if you have mild symptoms. One CT-Scan is equivalent to 300 chest x-rays, it's very harmful,'' Guleria said.