ReviewReviews in medical virology2021
Azithromycin in viral infections.
Review in Reviews in medical virology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 82 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled 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.
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.
Who cites it
82 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 168 citations in OpenAlex.
- Efficacy of azithromycin combined with intravenous immunoglobulin in the treatment of refractory mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia in children: a meta-analysis.BMC pediatrics · 2024Pooled it
- Weekly azithromycin for 48 weeks impacts nasopharyngeal microbial prevalence and Streptococcus pneumoniae serotypes in children with HIV-associated chronic lung disease.Scientific reports · 2025Trial
- Trial
- Trial
- Azithromycin for community treatment of suspected COVID-19 in people at increased risk of an adverse clinical course in the UK (PRINCIPLE): a randomised, controlled, open-label, adaptive platform trial.Lancet (London, England) · 2021Trial
- Azithromycin in patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19 (RECOVERY): a randomised, controlled, open-label, platform trial.Lancet (London, England) · 2021Trial
- Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on antibiotic treatment for respiratory tract infections in Norwegian primary care.Scandinavian journal of primary health care · 2026Article
- PANoptosis as a Therapeutic Target for COVID-19.Current microbiology · 2026Review
- Comparative Effectiveness of Azithromycin Versus Doxycycline in Hospitalized Patients With Community-Acquired Pneumonia Treated With Beta-Lactams: A Multicenter Matched Cohort Study.Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America · 2026Article
- Design of Poly-Catechol Biodynamers for Potentiation of Antibiotic Efficacy against Drug-Resistant Bacteria.Biomacromolecules · 2026Article
- Antibiotic treatment for respiratory tract infections for migrants in Norway during the COVID-19 pandemic: a population-wide registry study.BMC primary care · 2026Observational
- Combinations of Favipiravir with Doxycycline, Azithromycin or Ivermectin Exert Synergistic Effects Against Influenza A H3N2 Virus Replication.Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- How Can Pharmacology Help Us Overcome the Challenges of Drug Repositioning as Antivirals to Treat Emerging Pathogens? The Example of Covid-19.Clinical and translational science · 2026Review
- Natural products against Babesiosis: active compounds, molecular mechanisms, application limitations and translational development.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2026Review
- Article
- An advanced network pharmacology investigation of Shufeng Jiedu formula in the treatment for respiratory tract infection based on LC-MS, data mining, molecular docking, and molecular dynamic simulation.Briefings in bioinformatics · 2025Article
- Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Hospital Antimicrobial Purchasing in Canada (2018-2021): An Exploratory Analysis.Journal of the Association of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Disease Canada = Journal officiel de l'Association pour la microbiologie medicale et l'infectiologie Canada · 2025Article
- Interleukin-10 levels in azithromycin-induced cardiac damage and the protective role of combined selenium and vitamin E treatment.Toxicology reports · 2025Article
- Article
- Therapeutic effect of pH responsive Magainin II modified azithromycin plus curcumin micelles in different depth models of MRSA infection.Scientific reports · 2025Article
22 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Azithromycin (AZM) is a synthetic macrolide antibiotic effective against a broad range of bacterial and mycobacterial infections. Due to an additional range of anti-viral and anti-inflammatory properties, it has been given to patients with the coronaviruses SARS-CoV or MERS-CoV. It is now being investigated as a potential candidate treatment for SARS-CoV-2 having been identified as a candidate therapeutic for this virus by both in vitro and in silico drug screens. To date there are no randomised trial data on its use in any novel coronavirus infection, although a large number of trials are currently in progress. In this review, we summarise data from in vitro, murine and human clinical studies on the anti-viral and anti-inflammatory properties of macrolides, particularly AZM. AZM reduces in vitro replication of several classes of viruses including rhinovirus, influenza A, Zika virus, Ebola, enteroviruses and coronaviruses, via several mechanisms. AZM enhances expression of anti-viral pattern recognition receptors and induction of anti-viral type I and III interferon responses. Of relevance to severe coronavirus-19 disease (COVID-19), which is characterised by an over-exuberant innate inflammatory response, AZM also has anti-inflammatory properties including suppression of IL-1beta, IL-2, TNF and GM-CSF. AZM inhibits T cells by inhibiting calcineurin signalling, mammalian target of rapamycin activity and NFκB activation. AZM particularly targets granulocytes where it concentrates markedly in lysosomes, particularly affecting accumulation, adhesion, degranulation and apoptosis of neutrophils. Given its proven safety, affordability and global availability, tempered by significant concerns about antimicrobial stewardship, there is an urgent mandate to perform well-designed and conducted randomised clinical trials.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.