Outcomes after early treatment with hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin: An analysis of a database of 30,423 COVID-19 patients.

Abstract

Background:

Many studies have evaluated the use of hydroxychloroquine in COVID-19. Most retrospective observational studies demonstrate a benefit of using HCQ on mortality, but not most randomized clinical trials.

Methods:

We analyzed raw data collected from a cohort of 30,423 patients with COVID-19 cared for at IHU Méditerranée Infection in Marseille France and extracted from the DRYAD open data platform. We performed univariate and multivariable logistic regressions with all-cause mortality within six weeks. Multivariable logistic regressions were adjusted for sex, age group (<50, 50-69, 70-89 and ​> ​89 years), periods (or variants), and type of patient management.

Results:

Among 30,202 patients for whom information on treatment was available, 191/23,172 (0.82%) patients treated with HCQ-AZ died, compared to 344/7030 (4.89%) who did not receive treatment with HCQ-AZ. HCQ-AZ therapy was associated with a lower mortality than treatment without HCQ-AZ (odds ratio (OR) 0.16; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.14-0.19). After adjustment for sex, age, period, and patient management, HCQ-AZ was associated with a significantly lower mortality rate (adjusted OR (aOR) 0.55, 95% CI 0.45-0.68). On a subsample of 21,664 patients with available variant information, results remained robust after adjustment on sex, age, patient management and variant (aOR 0.55; 95% CI 0.44-0.69). On a subsample of 16,063 patients, HCQ-AZ was still associated with a significantly lower mortality rate (aOR 0.47, 95%CI 0.29-0.75) after adjustment for sex, age, period, patient management, vaccination status and comorbidities.

Conclusion:

Analysis of this large online database showed that HCQ-AZ was consistently associated with the lowest mortality.

• Authors: Philippe Brouqui, Matthieu Million, Philippe Parola, Peter A Mccullough, Didier Raoult
• Journal: New microbes and new infections (New Microbes New Infect) Vol. 55 Pg. 101188 (Oct 2023) ISSN: 2052-2975 [Print] England
• PMID: 38024333 (Publication Type: Journal Article)
• Copyright: © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.