COVID-19 prophylaxis with doxycycline and zinc in health care workers: a prospective, randomized, double-blind clinical trial

oleh: Nejla Stambouli, Adel Driss, Faten Gargouri, Khadija Bahrini, Bilel Arfaoui, Rim Abid, Karima Taamallah, Souha Hannachi, Sana Boughariou, Aicha Rebai, Imen Naas, Mohamed Ghanem, Hassib Ammar, Chiraz Aichaouia, Asma Harrathi, Mohamed Ali Yousfi, Riadh Battikh, Mohamed Ben Moussa, Rabie Razgallah, Mustapha Ferjani, Hédi Gharsallah

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: Elsevier 2022-09-01

Deskripsi

ABSTRACT: Objectives: This study aims to assess the efficacy of a combination treatment of doxycycline and zinc in the primary prevention of COVID-19 infection in Tunisian health care workers compared with two control groups. Methods: We conducted a prospective, randomized, double-blind clinical trial over 5 months to determine the efficacy of a preventive combination treatment dose of doxycycline (100 mg/day) and zinc (15 mg/day), compared with a single-dose treatment with doxycycline versus placebo. The effectiveness of preventive treatment was measured by the significant decline in the number of cases of COVID-19 infection and/or a decrease in the viral load as determined by SARS-CoV-2 cycle threshold value using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction tests. Results: We detected a significant decrease of SARS-CoV-2 infection in the group that received both doxycycline and zinc compared with other participants. We also demonstrated that COVID-19 infection was neither associated with diabetes (P = 0.51) nor associated with hypertension (P = 0.99), asthma (P = 0.52), and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (P = 0.27). Conclusion: Our findings indicated that preventive therapy reduced the risk of SARS-CoV-2. These results suggest that the combination of doxycycline and zinc has a protective effect in patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection.