<p>The commonly prescribed antibiotic for Covid-19, azithromycin, is no more effective than a placebo in preventing the progression of the viral disease among non-hospitalised patients, and may in fact increase their chance of hospitalisation, a study has found.</p>.<p>The research, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, included 263 participants who all tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, the virus which causes Covid-19, within seven days before entering the study.</p>.<p>None of the participants were hospitalised at the time of enrolment.</p>.<p>The researchers at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and Stanford University in the US randomly selected 171 participants to receive a single, 1.2 gramme oral dose of azithromycin and 92 received an identical placebo.</p>.<p><a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tag/coronavirus" target="_blank"><strong>CORONAVIRUS SPECIAL COVERAGE ONLY ON DH</strong></a></p>.<p>At day 14 of the study, 50 per cent of the participants remained symptom free in both groups.</p>.<p>By day 21, five of the participants who received azithromycin had been hospitalised with severe symptoms of Covid-19 and none of the placebo group had been hospitalised.</p>.<p>"Among outpatients with SARS-CoV-2 infection, treatment with a single dose of oral azithromycin compared with placebo did not result in a greater likelihood of being free of symptoms at day 14," the authors wrote in the study.</p>.<p>The researchers concluded that treatment with a single dose of azithromycin compared to placebo did not result in greater likelihood of being symptom-free.</p>.<p>"These findings do not support the routine use of azithromycin for outpatient SARS-CoV-2 infection," said study lead author Catherine E. Oldenburg, an assistant professor at UCSF.</p>.<p>"The hypothesis is that it has anti-inflammatory properties that may help prevent progression if treated early in the disease. We did not find this to be the case," Oldenburg said.</p>.<p>Azithromycin, a broad-spectrum antibiotic, is widely prescribed as a treatment for Covid-19 around the world.</p>.<p>Most of the trials done so far with azithromycin have focused on hospitalised patients with pretty severe disease, the researchers said.</p>.<p>"Our paper is one of the first placebo-controlled studies showing no role for azithromycin in outpatients," Oldenburg added.</p>
<p>The commonly prescribed antibiotic for Covid-19, azithromycin, is no more effective than a placebo in preventing the progression of the viral disease among non-hospitalised patients, and may in fact increase their chance of hospitalisation, a study has found.</p>.<p>The research, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, included 263 participants who all tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, the virus which causes Covid-19, within seven days before entering the study.</p>.<p>None of the participants were hospitalised at the time of enrolment.</p>.<p>The researchers at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and Stanford University in the US randomly selected 171 participants to receive a single, 1.2 gramme oral dose of azithromycin and 92 received an identical placebo.</p>.<p><a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tag/coronavirus" target="_blank"><strong>CORONAVIRUS SPECIAL COVERAGE ONLY ON DH</strong></a></p>.<p>At day 14 of the study, 50 per cent of the participants remained symptom free in both groups.</p>.<p>By day 21, five of the participants who received azithromycin had been hospitalised with severe symptoms of Covid-19 and none of the placebo group had been hospitalised.</p>.<p>"Among outpatients with SARS-CoV-2 infection, treatment with a single dose of oral azithromycin compared with placebo did not result in a greater likelihood of being free of symptoms at day 14," the authors wrote in the study.</p>.<p>The researchers concluded that treatment with a single dose of azithromycin compared to placebo did not result in greater likelihood of being symptom-free.</p>.<p>"These findings do not support the routine use of azithromycin for outpatient SARS-CoV-2 infection," said study lead author Catherine E. Oldenburg, an assistant professor at UCSF.</p>.<p>"The hypothesis is that it has anti-inflammatory properties that may help prevent progression if treated early in the disease. We did not find this to be the case," Oldenburg said.</p>.<p>Azithromycin, a broad-spectrum antibiotic, is widely prescribed as a treatment for Covid-19 around the world.</p>.<p>Most of the trials done so far with azithromycin have focused on hospitalised patients with pretty severe disease, the researchers said.</p>.<p>"Our paper is one of the first placebo-controlled studies showing no role for azithromycin in outpatients," Oldenburg added.</p>