More than 1.6 million Americans have been infected with SARS-CoV-2 and
>10 times that number carry antibodies to it. High-risk patients
presenting with progressing symptomatic disease have only
hospitalization treatment with its high mortality. An outpatient
treatment that prevents hospitalization is desperately needed. Two
candidate medications have been widely discussed: remdesivir, and
hydroxychloroquine+azithromycin. Remdesivir has shown mild effectiveness
in hospitalized inpatients, but no trials have been registered in
outpatients. Hydroxychloroquine+azithromycin has been widely
misrepresented in both clinical reports and public media, and outpatient
trials results are not expected until September. Early outpatient
illness is very different than later hospitalized florid disease and the
treatments differ. Evidence about use of hydroxychloroquine alone, or
of hydroxychloroquine+azithromycin in inpatients, is irrelevant
concerning efficacy of the pair in early high-risk outpatient disease.
Five studies, including two controlled clinical trials, have
demonstrated significant major outpatient treatment efficacy.
Hydroxychloroquine+azithromycin has been used as standard-of-care in
more than 300,000 older adults with multicomorbidities, with estimated
proportion diagnosed with cardiac arrhythmias attributable to the
medications 47/100,000 users, of which estimated mortality is <20%,
9/100,000 users, compared to the 10,000 Americans now dying each week.
These medications need to be widely available and promoted immediately
for physicians to prescribe.
No comments:
Post a Comment