06 Jul COVID-19: In Large Controlled Study, Hydroxychlorquine Linked to Reduced Mortality in Hospitalized Patients

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:

Samia Arshad

Samia Arshad, MPH
Epidemiologist II
Infectious Disease
Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit, MI

I would like to start off by saying: We need to keep partisanship out of science. ​During this pandemic, we hope we can stick to science and help save lives with purposeful data driven facts. 

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?

Response: Hydroxychloroquine, an antimalarial and immunomodulatory agent has demonstrated antiviral activity against SARS-CoV-2. We are in an acceleration phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, with 25% of the world’s cases occurring in the United States. Currently there is no known therapy or vaccine for treatment of SARS-CoV-2, highlighting the urgency around identifying effective therapies. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the role of hydroxychloroquine therapy alone and in combination with azithromycin in hospitalized patients positive for COVID-19.  

MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings?

Response: The results of this study demonstrate that in a strictly monitored protocol-driven in-hospital setting, treatment with hydroxychloroquine alone and hydroxychloroquine +azithromycin was associated with a significant reduction in mortality among patients hospitalized with COVID-19. In this study, among one of the largest COVID-19 hospital patient cohorts (n=2,541) assembled in a single institution, overall in-hospital COVID-19 associated mortality was 18.1% reflecting a high prevalence of co-morbid conditions in COVID-19 patients admitted to our institution. 

MedicalResearch.com: What should readers take away from your report?

Response: Findings of this observational study provide crucial data on experience with hydroxychloroquine therapy, providing necessary interim guidance for COVID-19 therapeutic practice. These findings do support the recent NIH guidelines hydroxychloroquine in treatment of hospitalized COVID-19 patients without co-administration of azithromycin. We describe the clinical outcomes in a large cohort of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 that were treated with hydroxychloroquine alone or in combination with other agents. 

MedicalResearch.com: What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of this work?

Response: The findings of our uncontrolled data will be informed by the ongoing prospective randomized trials of hydroxychloroquine for therapy for COVID-19.

MedicalResearch.com: Is there anything else you would like to add?

Response: No disclosures.

• There are now 4 studies showing the same benefit: NYC, Detroit, France, and Zelenko’s.

1. The NYC paper published https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11606-020-05983-z
2. Didier’s 3737 paper published
3. Henry Ford paper published and
4. Now Zelenko’s https://www.preprints.org/manuscript/202007.0025/v1

In a protocol-driven treatment algorithm of hydroxychloroquine, our results were validated through multiple levels of statistical analysis. All studies have limitations and we addressed them with full transparency in our paper.​​

Citation:

Treatment with Hydroxychloroquine, Azithromycin, and Combination in Patients Hospitalized with COVID-19
Arshad, SamiaNauriyal, Varidhi et al.
International Journal of Infectious Diseases, Volume 0, Issue 0
https://www.ijidonline.com/article/S1201-9712(20)30534-8/fulltext

Last Modified: [last-modified]

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Last Updated on July 10, 2020 by Marie Benz MD FAAD