Industry Information

Trump Recommends Hydroxychloroquine & Azithromycin For Covid-19, Does It Really Work?

Date of publication：2020/3/24 17:04:13

With the rapid spread of the epidemic, novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has also attracted global attention.







The number of confirmed cases in the United States doubled within 48 hours, becoming the country with the second largest number of confirmed cases outside China, behind Italy. Faced with an increasingly severe epidemic, Trump's attitude towards COVID-19 has also undergone a "subtle" change.



On Saturday (March 21), Trump lobbied for hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin, saying that hydroxychloroquine combined with azithromycin does have the opportunity to play a subversive role in the history of drugs to inhibit COVID-19. The tweet said: "Hopefully they will BOTH (H works better with A, International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents) be put in use IMMEDIATELY. PEOPLE ARE DYING, MOVE FAST, and GOD BLESS EVERYONE!"



Research Confirms: Azithromycin + Hydroxychloroquine Negative Rate Is 100%



Trump's recommendation was not groundless. On the same day, he also retweeted an effective tweet about hydroxychloroquine combined with azithromycin for the treatment of novel coronavirus.

The research paper entitled "Hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin as a treatment of COVID-19: results of an open-label non-randomized clinical trial" published online by the Didier Raoulta team in the International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents showed that the combination of hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin has a significant effect on COVID-19. The patients in the study completely eliminated the virus on the fifth day of treatment.



Looking specifically at this study, a total of 36 COVID-19 patients (6 asymptomatic, 22 with upper respiratory infection symptoms, and 8 with lower respiratory infection symptoms) participated in this clinical trial, of which 20 received receive 600mg of hydroxychloroquine daily and their viral load in nasopharyngeal swabs was tested daily in a hospital setting. Depending on their clinical presentation, azithromycin was added to the treatment. Another 16 were the control group.



As shown in the figure, on the 6th day, the nasopharyngeal swab virus negative rate was 100% in patients receiving hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin, while the negative rate was only 57.1% in patients receiving hydroxychloroquine monotherapy. The negative rate was even as low as 12.5% (p <0.0001). And compared with asymptomatic patients, the drug efficacy of patients with symptoms is more significant.



It can be seen that hydroxychloroquine is indeed effective in treating patients with COVID-19, and hydroxychloroquine combined with azithromycin is more effective. However, many experts believe that the sample size of this experiment is too small and the lack of randomized trials remains to be considered.



What You Should Know About These Two Drugs



Hydroxychloroquine is an oral drug prescribed for treating malaria and certain inflammatory conditions, while Azithromycin is used to treat certain bacterial infections, such as bronchitis; pneumonia.



As per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin are associated with QT prolongation, which is a measure to delayed ventricular repolarisation. In this process, the heart muscle takes longer than normal to recharge between beats. So, it is advised to use the drugs cautiously on patients with chronic medical conditions like renal failure and hepatic disease.



The Bottom Line



This clinical trial was approved by the French National Agency for Drug Safety (ANSM) and the French Ethics Committee for reviewing and approved.



As per the CDC, hydroxychloroquine is currently under investigation in clinical trials for the pre-exposure or post-exposure treatment of patients with mild, moderate and severe COVID-19.



The trail is indeed promising, but still a lot more research and approval are needed before using the shot of drugs on masses.



Other Therapeutic Options for COVID-19:

Nature Reviews: Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) Treatment Options

Favipiravir/Avigan Shows Good Clinical Efficacy Against COVID-19 As shown in the figure, on the 6th day, the nasopharyngeal swab virus negative rate was 100% in patients receiving hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin, while the negative rate was only 57.1% in patients receiving hydroxychloroquine monotherapy. The negative rate was even as low as 12.5% (p <0.0001). And compared with asymptomatic patients, the drug efficacy of patients with symptoms is more significant.It can be seen that hydroxychloroquine is indeed effective in treating patients with COVID-19, and hydroxychloroquine combined with azithromycin is more effective. However, many experts believe that the sample size of this experiment is too small and the lack of randomized trials remains to be considered.Hydroxychloroquine is an oral drug prescribed for treating malaria and certain inflammatory conditions, while Azithromycin is used to treat certain bacterial infections, such as bronchitis; pneumonia.As per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin are associated with QT prolongation, which is a measure to delayed ventricular repolarisation. In this process, the heart muscle takes longer than normal to recharge between beats. So, it is advised to use the drugs cautiously on patients with chronic medical conditions like renal failure and hepatic disease.This clinical trial was approved by the French National Agency for Drug Safety (ANSM) and the French Ethics Committee for reviewing and approved.As per the CDC, hydroxychloroquine is currently under investigation in clinical trials for the pre-exposure or post-exposure treatment of patients with mild, moderate and severe COVID-19.The trail is indeed promising, but still a lot more research and approval are needed before using the shot of drugs on masses.