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Combination therapy with hydroxychloroquine and
azithromycin could be considered as an effective treatment option for COVID-19.
As per a recent
open-label non-randomized clinical trial conducted in France, the combination
therapy with hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin reduced the viral load in
COVID-19 patients.
As chloroquine
and hydroxychloroquine were reported to be effective in COVID-19 patients by
China, this study was conducted to assess the role of hydroxychloroquine and
azithromycin in coronavirus patients. Patients confirmed with COVID-19 were
included in this single-arm study conducted between early March to March 16th.
The study population was administered with 600 mg of hydroxychloroquine daily,
500 mg azithromycin on day 1 and 250 mg per day for the next 4 days was
additionally given to six patients. The study endpoint was the status of
coronavirus in the patients on Day 6 after inclusion in the study.
In this study,
URTI (upper respiratory tract infection) symptoms and LRTI (lower respiratory
tract infection) symptoms were present in 22 and 8 patients respectively and 6
patients were asymptomatic. A significant reduction in the viral load was
observed in patients as compared to the controls. Addition of azithromycin
acted synergistically to hydroxychloroquine for virus elimination.
Even with the
small sample size, this study could be considered as a basis for larger COVID-19
treatment clinical trials with hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin.
International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents
Hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin as a treatment of COVID-19: results of an open-label non-randomized clinical trial.
Philippe Gautret et al.
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