Corticosteroid Therapy for 2019 Novel Coronavirus: Lessons From SARS and MERS

For the last three decades, the world population has experienced new epidemics of coronaviruses. The world is currently witnessing the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) epidemic, which is a disease that comes from a novel coronavirus called Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The available genetic and clinical proofs suggest a similar route to those of Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) and SARS. The clinical manifestations of infections caused by coronaviruses including SARS, MERS, and COVID-19 are pneumonia, bronchitis, or other serious respiratory infections. Various transmission ways (e.g., nosocomial transmission) and transmission through moderately symptomatic or non-symptomatic infected individuals have caused great concerns. Although no certain treatment has so far been developed for this disease, and prevention is the main applied strategy for these viruses, some medications can be used to help with this disease. Corticosteroids can be mentioned as an example of these medications. This article specifically reviewed the evidence regarding the effectiveness of the corticosteroid therapy for the coronavirus family (i.e., SARS, MERS, and COVID-19) and showed that there are insufficient data to recommend corticosteroid therapy for patients suffering from COVID-19.