Figure 3
Trends of steroid prescriptions. (a) Study population. (b) Severe. (c) Moderate II. (d) Moderate I/mild. ① A case report of ciclesonide administration published on the Infectious Diseases Society of Japan website (March 2, 2020), ② Designation of ciclesonide as an drug subject to shipment adjustment (March 3, 2020), ③ Publication of the preprint of the Recovery Trial on the efficacy of dexamethasone (June 22, 2020), ④ Publication of the Recovery Trial in peer-reviewed journals (July 17, 2020), ⑤ Publication of the first edition of "Rapid/Living Recommendations on Drug Management for COVID‐19" (September 9, 2020), ⑥ Publication of the first edition of "The Japanese Medical Science Federation COVID-19 expert opinion" (November 20, 2020). Vertical axis represents the proportions of prescription, horizontal axis represents week number. From the fourth edition of the Japanese Guide revised on December 4, 2020, it is recommended that steroids not be administered to the patients with moderate I or lower, while dexamethasone is strongly recommended in moderate II or higher.
