COVID-19 outpatients: early risk-stratified treatment with zinc plus low-dose hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin: a retrospective case series study
Roland Derwand, Martin Scholz, Vladimir Zelenko
International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents, doi:10.1016/j.ijantimicag.2020.106214
The aim of this study was to describe the outcomes of patients with coronavirus disease 2019 in the outpatient setting after early treatment with zinc, low-dose hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin (triple therapy) dependent on risk stratification. This was a retrospective case series study in the general practice setting. A total of 141 COVID-19 patients with laboratory-confirmed severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection in the year 2020 were included. The main outcome measures were risk-stratified treatment decision and rates of hospitalisation and all-cause death. A median of 4 days [interquartile range (IQR) 3-6 days; available for n = 66/141 patients] after the onset of symptoms, 141 patients (median age 58 years, IQR 40-67 years; 73.0% male) received a prescription for triple therapy for 5 days. Independent public reference data from 377 confirmed COVID-19 patients in the same community were used as untreated controls. Of 141 treated patients, 4 (2.8%) were hospitalised, which was significantly fewer ( P < 0.001) compared with 58 (15.4%) of 377 untreated patients [odds ratio (OR) = 0.16, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.06-0.5]. One patient (0.7%) in the treatment group died versus 13 patients (3.4%) in the untreated group (OR = 0.2, 95% CI 0.03-1.5; P = 0.12). No cardiac side effects were observed. Risk stratification-based treatment of COVID-19 outpatients as early as possible after symptom onset using triple therapy, including the combination of zinc with low-dose hydroxychloroquine, was associated with significantly fewer hospitalisations.
Competing interests RD is/was at the time of writing an employee of Alexion Pharma Germany GmbH, and his engagement and contribution to this study and publication was private and independent from his employer; MS is/was at the time of writing External Senior Advisor for the company LEUKOCARE (Munich, Germany) and is/was Manging Director at Starts-and -Ups Consulting (Frankfurt, Germany); VZ is/was a general practitioner in New York State (USA).
Ethical approval This study was approved by the Western Institutional Review Board and was exempt under 45 CFR § 46.104(d)(4). Ref. Number: D4-Excemption-Zelenko (06-16-2020).
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