Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32696429›Full record

ReviewDrug safety2020

Azithromycin in COVID-19 Patients: Pharmacological Mechanism, Clinical Evidence and Prescribing Guidelines.

Janet Sultana, Paola Maria Cutroneo, Salvatore Crisafulli, Gabriele Puglisi, Gaetano Caramori, Gianluca Trifirò

Open access · bronzeAbstract readReview
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Review in Drug safety, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 71 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
71citing papers in PubMed, 4 pooled it
3.0field-weighted citation impact, top 5% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

71 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 141 citations in OpenAlex.

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11 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Janet SultanaDepartment of Biomedical and Dental Sciences and Morphofunctional Imaging, University of Messina, Messina, Italy.
Paola Maria CutroneoDepartment of Biomedical and Dental Sciences and Morphofunctional Imaging, University of Messina, Messina, Italy.
Salvatore CrisafulliDepartment of Biomedical and Dental Sciences and Morphofunctional Imaging, University of Messina, Messina, Italy.
Gabriele PuglisiDepartment of Biomedical and Dental Sciences and Morphofunctional Imaging, University of Messina, Messina, Italy.
Gaetano CaramoriDepartment of Biomedical and Dental Sciences and Morphofunctional Imaging, University of Messina, Messina, Italy.
Gianluca TrifiròDepartment of Biomedical and Dental Sciences and Morphofunctional Imaging, University of Messina, Messina, Italy. trifirog@unime.it.ORCID 0000-0003-1147-7296
University of Messina · IT

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The global COVID-19 pandemic has led to a race to find medications that can improve the prognosis of the disease. Azithromycin, in association with hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine, has been proposed as one such medication. The aim of this review is to describe the pharmacological mechanism, clinical evidence and prescribing guidelines concerning azithromycin in COVID-19 patients. There is weak evidence on the antiviral and immunomodulating effects of azithromycin, which in addition is not based on results from COVID-19 patients specifically. Therefore, this antibacterial should be considered only as empirical treatment of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP), although not all current treatment guidelines are in agreement. After the initial expectations raised by a small trial, more recent evidence has raised serious safety concerns on the use of hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine with azithromycin to treat COVID-19 patients, as all these drugs have arrhythmogenic potential. The World Health Organization has not made recommendations suggesting the use of azithromycin with hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine as treatment for COVID-19, but some national organisations have taken a different position, recommending this as first-line treatment. Several scientific societies, including the American College of Cardiology, have cautioned about the risks of this treatment in view of the lack of evidence concerning its benefits.

Indexed as

BetacoronavirusCoinfectionCoronavirus InfectionsPandemicsPneumonia, ViralAnti-Bacterial AgentsAzithromycinCOVID-19HumansMedication Therapy ManagementPatient SelectionPractice Guidelines as TopicSARS-CoV-2Treatment OutcomeAnti-Bacterial AgentsAzithromycin

Identifiers

PMID32696429
PMCPMC7371963
OpenAlexW3044123469

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.