Steroids in COVID 19

Abstract

At the outset of the new decade, the Novel Coronavirus, SARS CoV2, came as a big shock to humanity. In most people, COVID 19 infection causes a self-limiting illness, and they are either asymptomatic or have only mild symptoms. But the patients who become moderate to severely ill, especially those who develop respiratory failure, have significant involvement of the lungs, leading to increased morbidity and mortality. In these patients, one primary mechanism of
the illness is through immune dysregulation (hyper immune response causing damage to the self), which bring steroids into the picture as an essential weapon in the hands of the healthcare personnel, to reduce the morbidity and mortality in a person infected with COVID 19. Of course, steroids can have severe adverse effects, but if used with caution and in a systematic scientific way, they can surely help us decrease the burden of the disease. This review deals with the same issue aiming to clear the air around the use of steroids in COVID