Clemency BM, Varughese R, Gonzalez-Rojas Y, et al. - In order to ascertain the role of inhaled corticosteroids in the treatment of patients with mild to moderate disease, researchers herein examined the time to alleviation of all COVID-19–related symptoms among these patients in correlation with administering inhaled steroid ciclesonide.

• A phase 3, multicenter, double-blind, randomized clinical trial.

• A total of 400 patients with symptomatic COVID-19 were assigned to receive ciclesonide MDI, 160 μg per actuation, for a total of 2 actuations twice a day (total daily dose, 640 μg) or placebo for 30 days.

• No reduced time to alleviation of all COVID-19–related symptoms was observed in correlation with providing ciclesonide.

• However, there were fewer subsequent emergency department visits or hospital admissions for reasons that were related to COVID-19 among patients who received ciclesonide treatment.