The Efficacy of Hydroxychloroquine and Azithromycin Combination Therapy on Hospital Mortality in COVID 19 Pneumonia Patients
Abstract
BACKGROUND/AIM
Effective therapeutic approaches for SARS-CoV-2 pandemic are urgently needed. Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) alone or in combination with azithromycin has been used in several countries, without any clear evidence. This study aimed to determine the effectiveness and safety of hydroxychloroquine as compared to hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin combination in patients with COVID-19 pneumonia.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
This retrospective study evaluated all patients admitted to two university hospitals between 18 March and 20 May 2020 with the diagnosis of COVID-19 pneumonia. Out of 496 patients, 370 met the eligibility criteria and were included in the final analysis. The primary outcome was in-hospital mortality. Secondary outcomes were time to recovery, presence of severe acute respiratory infection (SARI), the requirement for oxygen therapy, and/or mechanical ventilation, length of hospital stay, and adverse events.
RESULTS
A total of 222 patients received hydroxychloroquine and 148 were treated with HCQ and azithromycin combination. The in-hospital mortality rates were similar in the two groups (10.8% vs. 6.8%, respectively, p=0.186). Additionally, the needs for oxygen therapy, invasive mechanic ventilation (IMV) and intensive care unit (ICU) admission were not different. The rate of the requirement of non-invasive mechanic ventilation (NIV) was higher in patients receiving HCQ plus azithromycin (10.1% vs. 4.5%, p=0.035). Time to recovery was 3.5 days in HCQ and 5.0…
Read the paper
Related studies
- Penicillins for Treatment of Pneumococcal Pneumonia: Does In Vitro Resistance Really Matter?
- Thiophenes—Naturally Occurring Plant Metabolites: Biological Activities and In Silico Evaluation of Their Potential as Cathepsin D Inhibitors
- Inhalable Mannosylated Rifampicin–Curcumin Co-Loaded Nanomicelles with Enhanced In Vitro Antimicrobial Efficacy for an Optimized Pulmonary Tuberculosis Therapy
- Development and validation of microbial bioassay for quantification of Levofloxacin in pharmaceutical preparations
- GC-MS Analysis and Biomedical Therapy of Oil from n-Hexane Fraction of Scutellaria edelbergii Rech. f.: In Vitro, In Vivo, and In Silico Approach
- Propranolol, chlorpromazine and diclofenac restore susceptibility of extensively drug-resistant (XDR)-Acinetobacter baumannii to fluoroquinolones
Go deeper in Evidence Hub
Evidence Hub adds a study data sheet (design, sample size, evidence level, key numbers), an AI summary and a chat grounded in the paper's text.