Abstract
BackgroundThe current management practices for patients with COVID-19 consist of infection prevention and supportive care. We aimed to explore the association between negative nasopharyngeal SARS-CoV-2 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) clearance and different therapeutic interventions.MethodsThis study is a retrospective cohort study of 93 patients who were admitted to a tertiary hospital in Saudi Arabia with a PCR confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19. There were three intervention subgroups (group A) (n = 45), which included those who received chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) only (A1), those who received chloroquine or HCQ in combination with azithromycin (A2), and those who received chloroquine or HCQ in combination with antiviral drugs with or without azithromycin (A3), as well as one supportive care group (group B) (n = 48). The primary and secondary endpoints were achieving negative SARS-CoV-2 nasopharyngeal PCR samples within five and 12 days from the start of the intervention, respectively.ResultsA median time of three days (interquartile range (IQR): 2.00-6.50) is needed from the time of starting the intervention/supportive care to the first negative PCR sample. There was no statistically significant difference neither between the percentage of patients in the intervention group and the supportive care group who achieved the primary or secondary endpoint nor in the median time needed to achieve the first negative PCR sample (p > 0.05).ConclusionPrescribing antimalarial medications was not shown to shorten the disease course nor to accelerate the negative PCR conversion rate.
Highlights
In December 2019, a novel coronavirus named SARS-CoV-2 emerged in China and spread worldwide to be declared by the WHO as a pandemic on March 12, 2020 [1]
We aimed to study the association between negative nasopharyngeal SARS-CoV-2 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) conversion and different therapeutic interventions (HCQ monotherapy, in combination with macrolide, or in combination with antiviral with or without azithromycin)
The objective of this study was to investigate the association between negative nasopharyngeal SARS-CoV-2 PCR conversion and different therapeutic interventions (HCQ monotherapy, in combination with macrolide, or in combination with antiviral with or without azithromycin)
Summary
In December 2019, a novel coronavirus named SARS-CoV-2 emerged in China and spread worldwide to be declared by the WHO as a pandemic on March 12, 2020 [1]. The healthcare systems in many countries fall under tremendous pressure of increasing numbers of confirmed cases, and many healthcare authorities recommended two negative nasopharyngeal polymerase chain reaction (PCR) results 24 hours apart before discontinuation of hospital isolation [5,6]. Until mid-2020, there were no therapeutic options approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the prevention or treatment of COVID-19. The current management practices consist of infection prevention and supportive care, such as oxygen supplementation and mechanical ventilation, if needed [7]. Different medications were proposed to be candidates for the treatment of COVID-19; some of these options focused on the use of. The current management practices for patients with COVID-19 consist of infection prevention and supportive care. We aimed to explore the association between negative nasopharyngeal SARS-CoV-2 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) clearance and different therapeutic interventions
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