You are correct. However ARDS is not pneumonia. That gets confused in the news. And is often misreported. Your experience makes you far more educated than the standard idiot covering medical news
The stitches on the fast ball is this study compares the efficacy of dexamethasone in particular with other steroids. Dex is more powerful and hence not used a lot precisely because of the immunosuppressant fear. Surviving sepsis campaign chose hydrocortisone as its steroid of choice and I suppose has been extrapolated to all critical situations.
This particular article is poorly reported on by the lay press and the actual study has a lot of medical nuance in it.
This was one of my first doubts when reading this; COVID is not just a cytokine inflammatory attack; it also involves a viral pathogen. My limited understanding is that steroids tend to strengthen or encourage pathogens in general.
That raises my other issue - that dexamethasone is an immunosuppressant; isn't that the opposite effect of what is desired? I can see this as a followup to an effective antiviral / antibiotic treatment, but as an initial attack on a potentially deadly disease - I am doubtful.
***This particular article is poorly reported on by the lay press and the actual study has a lot of medical nuance in it***
Indeed, I think this is part of the continuing attack on HCQ and Azithromycin. I was in the hospital last week and had a chance to talk to the infectious disease specialist... asked him if he prescribed HCQ (etc) for COVID; he said 'absolutely'! We both shared the shock that there were people who would let people die needlessly if it served political ends. A new age. 🤨