The drug that saved lives in COVID 19

 The debate of using steroids in ARDS secondary to infective etiology has been raging since the inception of the concept, when at the fag end of 2019, a virus, SARS COV2, emerged as the one of the deadliest ever in the history of human civilisation. Desperate situations need desperate measures. And once again, in the desperate bid to save lives, mankind turned to steroids in the hour of crisis. The results were not miraculous but optimistic. Patients who were critically ill requiring oxygen or mechanical ventilation seemed to benefit from the new weapon in the armamentarium. This occurred at a stage when the performance of the ‘big warriors’ viz. the antivirals remained below expectation. The ‘hope’ in the hour of darkness resulted in the worldwide use of steroids on a massive scale, sometimes even, over enthusiastic and premature. Reports of secondary infections attributed to steroid induced immunosuppressive started emerging, but the exact cause of the phenomenon remained an enigma. Over time, the use of steroids in COVID with pulmonary devitalisation has become a global consensus. Considered to be the ‘game changer’ in the management of seriously ill COVID-19 with lung injury, the surfacing results of the ongoing and completed studies have already proved its usefulness in the fight against the worst pandemic in history. With time, the virus is expected to weaken and human zeal to live and love will sweep the  tragedies into oblivion. However, science and society will for ever preserve the ‘treasure’ of the powerful medicine that is a ‘two edged sword’, but when used judiciously to ‘strike the iron when it is hot’ can save lives and ‘do no harm’.