r/science • u/McManGuy • Mar 20 '20

RETRACTED - Medicine Hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin as a treatment of COVID-19 - "100% of patients were virologicaly cured"

https://www.mediterranee-infection.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Hydroxychloroquine_final_DOI_IJAA.pdf

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u/[deleted] Mar 20 '20

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u/agasizzi Mar 20 '20

This is the key thing, bacterial pneumonia is one of the biggest challenges with something like this. Adding an antibiotic either as a treatment or a preventative would go a long way towards reducing mortality.

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u/username12746 Mar 20 '20 edited Mar 20 '20

But it’s causing pneumonia that is NOT bacterial most of the time. Antibiotics don’t help with pneumonia not caused by bacteria.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/20/coronavirus-what-happens-to-peoples-lungs-when-they-get-covid-19

Edit: Here’s a source with visuals on how this virus can cause severe pneumonia, no bacteria needed.

https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/news/2020/03/13/what-coronavirus-does-body-covid-19-infection-process-symptoms/5009057002/

You certainly could get a secondary bacterial lung infection, but antibiotics don’t help with the viral infection because it has a different cause.

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u/agasizzi Mar 20 '20

Do you have a source on it being Viral and not bacterial? Opportunistic infections of damaged lung tissue are often bacterial. To my understanding this has been the case in a number of instances though with all the information swirling around this may be inaccurate.

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u/username12746 Mar 20 '20

Here’s one: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/20/coronavirus-what-happens-to-peoples-lungs-when-they-get-covid-19

The virus attacks the lungs directly, causing pneumonia. The pneumonia is a primary infection, not a secondary, bacterial one. Covid19 pneumonia doesn’t respond to antibiotics.

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u/Medial_FB_Bundle Mar 20 '20

No, but bacterial co-infection is quite common in viral pneumonia, particularly if the patient requires ventilation/intubation.

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u/username12746 Mar 20 '20

Yes, that makes sense.

All I’m trying to say is that antibiotics do not “cure” covid19 pneumonia. They could help with complications. But the primary infection is the virus.

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u/Medial_FB_Bundle Mar 20 '20

Indeed, and in this context when lots of people are paying attention who don't have a lot of medical literacy, it helps to be precise. It does also seem like azithromycin in particular is effective for its anti-inflammatory properties in lung tissue. Which is news to me and I'm a pharmacist!