Our experience of using Hydroxychloroquine and Azithromycin in the treatment of COVID-19: an observational study from Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo

Background: Up to now COVID-19 treatment is a matter of great debate. Several trials and observational studies have brought conflicting results regarding the efficacy of some repurposed drugs suggested treating COVID-19, stressing the need for further research. Objective: This study aimed to add to the existing literature, some evidence on the efficacy and safety of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) and azithromycin (AZ) as suggested drugs for COVID-19 treatment. Materials and Methods: This observational study reports the experience of conventional treatment (CT) combining HCQ plus AZ applied in the Democratic Republic of Congo. We compared epidemiological and clinical data between 1,100 (89%) subjects submitted to the CT and 135 (11%) who did not receive the CT. Survival analyses including Kaplan-Meier and Cox regression were used to determine the clinical progress at day 10 and the survival likelihood at day 15, from the treatment initiation date. Results: Clinical outcome is much better in the CT group on D10 than in the comparison group (p=0.001). The adverse effects reported are minor and equivalent in both groups (3% vs 3%). Conclusion: This preliminary observational study suggests a beneficial and safe effect of conventional treatment in our country and justifies the continuation of this therapeutic protocol at this time. However, larger analytical studies with more robust evaluation criteria are needed to strengthen the power of observations.