
Combination of Hydroxychloroquine Plus Azithromycin As Potential Treatment for COVID-19 Patients: Safety Profile, Drug Interactions, and Management of Toxicity
Author(s) -
Guillaume Hache,
JeanMarc Rolain,
Philippe Gautret,
Jean Claude Deharo,
Philippe Brouqui,
Didier Raoult,
Stéphane Honore
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
microbial drug resistance
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.889
H-Index - 70
eISSN - 1931-8448
pISSN - 1076-6294
DOI - 10.1089/mdr.2020.0232
Subject(s) - hydroxychloroquine , azithromycin , medicine , context (archaeology) , intensive care medicine , drug , covid-19 , drug repositioning , coronavirus , clinical trial , disease , pharmacology , infectious disease (medical specialty) , antibiotics , biology , paleontology , microbiology and biotechnology
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, has recently emerged worldwide. In this context, there is an urgent need to identify safe and effective therapeutic strategies for treatment of such highly contagious disease. We recently reported promising results of combining hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin as an early treatment option. Although ongoing clinical trials are challenging the efficacy of this combination, many clinicians claim the authorization to or have already begun to use it to treat COVID-19 patients worldwide. The aim of this article is to share pharmacology considerations contributing to the rationale of this combination, and to provide safety information to prevent toxicity and drug-drug interactions, based on available evidence.