Revisiting a Meta-analysis Shows that Hydroxychloroquine with Azithromycin may be Efficient in Covid-19 patients
Lounnas e al., Archives of Microbiology & Immunology, doi:
Revisiting a Meta-analysis Shows that Hydroxychloroquine with Azithromycin may be Efficient in Covid-19 patients
Valère Lounnas, Alexis Lacout, Xavier Azalbert, Christian Perronne
Archives of Microbiology & Immunology, doi:10.26502/ami.93650055
Objective: To analyze the impact of study selection on the results of a recently published meta-analysis of the efficacy of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) and hydroxychloroquine plus azithromycin (AZI) in Covid-19 patients. Methods: 31 studies were reviewed looking for critical bias. Combined hazard ratios and confidence intervals were calculated for both treatments using a fixed effects size model and a random effects model. Quantitative analysis regarding the toxicity of the association HCQ plus AZI is made. Results: Meta-analyses performed on the 11 studies we deem critically unbiased show a mortality reduction of 55% for HCQ and 66% for HCQ plus AZI. For both treatments, our meta-analysis indicates a significant efficacy in reducing mortality in hospitalized Covid-19 patients.
Competing interests The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
Ethical Approval Approval was not required for this work.
Acknowledgments Thanks to all members of the France Soir -Citizen Circle (scientists, medical practitioners, lecturers and jurists) for the many public audience articles they wrote or help publish in France Soir, with