Coronapod: Dexamethasone, the cheap steroid that could cut coronavirus deaths

Nature Podcast

In this episode:

00:37 Lessons from the Ebola outbreak

We get an update on the pandemic response in the African countries still reeling from the 2014 Ebola crisis. Resource strapped and under pressure – can the lessons learned from Ebola help keep the coronavirus under control?

15:32 Dexamethasone, a breakthrough drug?

A UK-based drugs trial suggests that a cheap steroid could cut deaths by a third among the sickest COVID patients. We discuss what this could mean for the pandemic.

News: Coronavirus breakthrough: dexamethasone is first drug shown to save lives

20:06 One good thing

Our hosts pick out things that have made them smile in the last week, including altruistic bone marrow donors, and skateboarding.

22:48 The numbers don’t lie

A huge amount of projections, graphs and data have been produced during the pandemic. But how accurate are numbers and can they be relied upon?

News: Why daily death tolls have become unusually important in understanding the coronavirus pandemic

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