Why the study?
Does oral clarithromycin improve clinical outcomes in patients with moderate COVID-19?
Does oral clarithromycin improve clinical outcomes in patients with moderate COVID-19?
Early treatment with oral clarithromycin is associated with clinical improvement and reduced disease progression in patients with moderate COVID-19.
Early clarithromycin may improve moderate COVID-19 outcomes; hypothesis-generating and requires randomized confirmation before practice change.
Background To study the efficacy of oral clarithromycin in moderate COVID-19. Methods An open-label non-randomized trial in 90 patients with COVID-19 of moderate severity was conducted between May and October 2020. The primary endpoint was defined at the end-of-treatment (EOT) as no need for hospital re-admission and no progression into lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI) for patients with upper respiratory tract infection; and as at least 50% decrease of the respiratory symptoms score the without progression into severe respiratory failure (SRF) for patients with LRTI. Viral load, biomarkers, the function of mononuclear cells, and safety were assessed. Results The primary endpoint was attained in 86.7% of patients treated with clarithromycin (95% CIs 78.1-92.2%); this was 91.7% and 81.4% among patients starting clarithromycin the first 5 days from symptoms onset or later (odds ratio after multivariate analysis 6.62; p: 0.030). The responses were better for patients infected by non-B1.1 variants. Clarithromycin use was associated with decreases in circulating C-reactive protein, tumour necrosis factor-alpha and interleukin (IL)-6; by increase of Th1 to Th2 mononuclear responses; and by suppression of SARS-CoV-2 viral load. No safety concerns were reported. Conclusions Early clarithromycin treatment provides most of clinical improvement in moderate COVID-19 (Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04398004)
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Amarenco et al. (1991) studied this question.
Synapse has enriched 3 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context: