Re: “early outpatient treatment of symptomatic, high-risk covid-19 patients that should be ramped up immediately as key to the pandemic crisis”

In his recent article, Dr. Harvey Risch (1) makes an impassioned plea that we are unable to wait for results from randomized controlled trials of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and should immediately roll out early outpatient treatment with hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) and azithromycin (AZ). Early treatment that prevents disease progression and hospitalization is desperately needed, and timing of initiation of antiviral therapy may have important effects on the outcomes of therapy for COVID-19 (2). Unfortunately, as Risch states, “based on laboratory and other preliminary evidence available to date,” no available treatment is “effective in preventing hospitalization for the overwhelming majority” of “symptomatic high-risk outpatients” (1), and there are potential hazards associated with HCQ  + AZ.
Source: American Journal of Epidemiology - Category: Epidemiology Source Type: research