Arpan Banerjee, University of Calcutta
Prematurity or pre-term birth has become one of the most alarming cases about child mortality all across the globe. Approximately, 1.1 million pre-term babies perish every year throughout the world. By definition, it is the birth of a baby at lesser than 37 weeks, as opposed to the usual which is about 40 weeks. The newborns are highly susceptible to a wide array of infections along with cerebral palsy, hearing impairment and respiratory problems. The underlying reasons for giving birth to the premise are versatile. The foremost reason includes the medical condition and the lifestyle of the mother before and during pregnancy. Other reasons involve growing psychological stress and despondency among women arising due to social stress.
In one of the recent trending articles, steroids have been approved scientifically to aid in the survival of these special neonates. Dexamethasone is an FDA approved glucocorticoid which is highly recommended to people downtrodden with issues like rheumatoid arthritis and even Covid-19 infection. This drug has been rendered suitable for improving the chances of pre-term survival as well. Moreover, it has been found that there are no threats posed by the drug in context to bacterial infections in the mother. According to Dr Olufemi Oladapo, dexamethasone is a clinically proven drug to settle the problems regarding the newborns in low-income resources. This treatment, in his knowledge, must be tackled by dexterous health-care officials who can make a right call when necessary resulting in the benefit of both the mother and the child. This has been further seconded by the new clinical trial published in the New England Journal of medicine that throws light on the potency of dexamethasone on this issue.
The WHO ACTION-1 trial finally settles disputes regarding the ongoing parley on whether glucocorticoids or cortico steroids are a boon to the premature neonates in terms of their survival. Dexamethasone and the other drugs belonging to the same family have long shown to be quite beneficent in the field of premature birth especially in developed countries where expensive care and high-income settings are easily available. It has been responsive even to the scenarios involving low-income facilities. For every 25 pregnant women at great danger of delivering a pre-term baby, after dexamethasone administration, the life of at least one child was saved. On the application of the drug as an intramuscular injection, it goes past the placenta and hastens lung development leading to improved lung functioning after childbirth.
It is imperative that the care staffs are highly selective in choosing the females highly likely of benefitting from the drug and to commence the procedure as and when required which is 48 hours before the delivery. This gives room for the drug to function at its best for optimal results. There must also be proper arrangements of ultrasound to accurately track the nooks of their pregnancies and treat them in weeks 26 to 34. Dr Rajiv Bahl has put forward the need for the joint combination of the basic care facilities (infection management, feeding support) and the drug dosage concerning the survival of the neonates.
Also read: Intracellular transfer of Vax1
REFERENCE: https://www.independent.co.ug/steroids-can-boost-survival-of-preterm-babies-who/
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