A triple-drug cocktail containing the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine significantly lowered the hospitalization and the death rate of COVID-19 patients, a peer-reviewed study suggests.
The study, which determined that “Low-dose hydroxychloroquine combined with zinc and azithromycin was an effective therapeutic approach against COVID-19,” is set to be published in the International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents in December.
The study found that the odds of hospitalization of treated patients was 84 percent less than in the untreated patients. In the treated group, four patients (2.8 percent) were hospitalized, in comparison to 58 (15.4 percent) of the untreated patients.
Of the treated patients, one patient (0.7 percent) died, compared to 13 patients (3.4 percent) in the untreated group, the researchers said.
“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,” they wrote.
The study states that in general, the triple therapy was well-tolerated, with 30 patients (21.3 percent) reporting weakness, 20 (14.2 percent) nausea, 15 (10.6 percent) diarrhoea, and 2 (1.4 percent) rash. The doctors totted that no patient-reported palpitations or any cardiac side effects.
Hydroxychloroquine and the closely related chloroquine have been closely scrutinized since President Donald Trump touted them earlier this year as potential treatments for COVID-19, a disease caused by the CCP virus. The drugs were prescribed for both hospitalized and non-hospitalized patients across the United States after anecdotal accounts suggested some efficacy against COVID-19.
