Hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin as a treatment of COVID-19: results of an open-label non-randomized clinical trial

3/17 Early treatment study

Gautret et al., Int. J. of Antimicrobial Agents, doi:10.1016/j.ijantimicag.2020.105949 (preprint 3/17) (Peer Reviewed)
Hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin as a treatment of COVID-19: results of an open-label non-randomized clinical trial

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HCQ was significantly associated with reduction / elimination of viral load, which was enhanced with AZ. Updated 8/13: responses to this paper have raised methodological issues [1, 2, 3].

Despite the limitations, this early observational study was a milestone in the discovery process, including detailed daily evolution of PCR positivity. This study should be viewed in the context of the series of studies from this group.

An update to this paper, including originally excluded patients, confirms the effectiveness of HCQ+AZ on viral clearance and early discharge [4].

Also see [5]
and the response from the authors [6].

Gautret et al., 3/17/2020, prospective, France, Europe, peer-reviewed, 18 authors, dosage 200mg tid days 1-10.

risk of no virological cure at day 6, 66.0% lower, RR 0.34, p = 0.001, treatment 6 of 20 (30.0%), control 14 of 16 (87.5%).

This study is excluded in meta analysis: excessive unadjusted differences between groups, results only for PCR status which may be significantly different to symptoms.

Effect extraction follows pre-specified rules prioritizing more serious outcomes. For an individual study the most serious outcome may have a smaller number of events and lower statistical signficance, however this provides the strongest evidence for the most serious outcomes when combining the results of many trials.

[1] sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S092485792030251X

[2] sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0924857920302338

[3] sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0924857920302260

[4] sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0924857920300996

[5] sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0924857921000224

[6] sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0924857921000364

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