Patients with COVID-19 which are 60 years old or above or with comorbidities are at risk of deteriorating and developing severe illness. This prospective open label study will include people 60 years old or above or younger if at risk for severe disease. Individuals confirmed to have SARS-CoV-2 infection will be identified using medical records screening. They will then be offered to participate in the study and if agree will be given the informed consent. After examining inclusion and exclusion criteria they will be asked to sign the informed consent and after signing Information like immunizations, ECG results, diagnostic images and reports, written medical reports, diagnostic lab testing results (e.g. blood tests, urine tests, blood bank info), allergies and intolerances (drug and food allergies, food intolerances), prescription history, and general patient information (e.g. name, birthdate, personal health number, address, phone number) will be gathered. Those who are not eligible for the study will be informed of the reason(s) for ineligibility (generally it will be a safety exclusion and they should be aware of this). Those who are eligible will be randomized to one of three arms: hydroxychloroquine + azithromycin, hydroxychloroquine + camostat mesylate or "doing nothing" in a ratio of 2:1:2. Study drug will be dispensed by the hospital pharmacy. Follow up will continue for 8 weeks.
This prospective, open-label, placebo-controlled, randomized clinical trial will determine if
hydroxychloroquine for 5 days plus camostat mesylate for 10 days, initiated in patients older
than 60 years or younger but with risk factors for severe COVID 19 disease will reduce the
risk of progression to severe COVID-19 disease compared to hydroxychloroquine plus
azithromycin for 5 days or not treating with neither. Severe disease is defined as
progression to invasive mechanical ventilation, reduced respiratory parameters (according to
NEWS criteria) and 14 and 30-day mortality. This trial will enroll hospitalized consenting
adults, who are age 18 or over, have a risk factor for severe disease, have no
contraindication to treatment with hydroxychloroquine, can swallow pills, and who do not have
severe underlying comorbidity where treatment is not likely to be beneficial to the patient.
The primary outcome will be clinical state of the patient according to NEWS scoring on day 7.
Secondary outcomes will be the proportion of participants requiring invasive mechanical
ventilation, 14 and 30 -day mortality, and positive viral PCR at day 14.
Randomization will be stratified by age and sex.
Sheba medical center is a tertiary hospital affiliated to Tel Aviv University.
Drug: hydroxychloroquine in combination with camostat mesylate
Two drugs which may act as antivirals against SARS CoVid 2 (Hydroxychloroquine may also act as an immunomodulator, Camostat mesylate is a protease inhibitor)
Drug: Hydroxychloroquine in combination of Azithromycin
Hydroxychloroquine 400 mg BID on day 1 and than 200 mg BID on days 2-5 + Azithromycin 500 mg QD on day 1 and 250 mg QD on days 2-5
Inclusion Criteria:
- 18 years and above
- COVID-19 confirmed by a real-time RT-PCR tests 7 days prior to clinical trial
enrollment
- Mild disease (no pneumonia) with at least one of the following risk factors: Age > 55,
prior lung or kidney disease, DM with HbA1c > 7.6%, hypertension, CVD, immuno -
supressed, organ transplantation, HIV with a CD4 cell count of less than 250
cells/mm3, heavy smoking, BMI > 30.
- Moderate disease - pneumonia, Tachypnea > 24 BPM, tachicardia > 125 BPM, O2 saturation
93% or less
Exclusion Criteria:
- Severe or critical disase
- Assisted ventilation
- Hospitalization in ICU
- Neutrophiles less than 2000
- AST or ALT > 5 times normal
- QTc > 500 msec
- Pregnancy
- Treatment with a drug that prolongs QT
Sheba Medical Center
Ramat Gan, Israel
Sheba Medical Center
Tel HaShomer, Israel