Abstract

Background: The ongoing pandemic has highlighted the need for an effective treatment of COVID-19 patients
and prevention of SARS-CoV-2 community transmission.Methods: We conducted a prospective observational
study on a cohort of 85 COVID-19 patients (80% males, median age 46 years, range 18–80 years). Patients were
treated with a triple drug therapy: ivermectin 12 mg once a week, hydroxychloroquine 400 mg twice a day on
the first day and 200 mg twice a day for the next 4 days, and azithromycin 500 mg once a day for 5 days.
Endpoints were assessed by clinical outcomes, death, negative SARS-CoV-2 RNA-PCR test on the tenth day,
and length of the hospital stay.Results: All patients improved except one 70-year-old female, who died on the
third day of admission. The clinical outcome was considered good as 95.24% (80/84) of patients presented a
negative SARS-CoV-2 RNA-PCR test on the tenth day of admission and 90.48% (76/84) were discharged in
stable condition.Conclusions: The response must focus on immediate isolation of COVID-19 patients and their
early treatment to prevent irreversible severe respiratory injury. Our study shows the beneficial effect of triple
drug therapy in terms of clinical recovery, shorter duration of viral carriage, community spread prevention, and
minimal cost of therapy.

Key words: Hydroxychloroquine, Azithromycin, Ivermectin, COVID-19 patients