Azithromycin News and Research

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Azithromycin, also known as Zithromax, belongs to the class of medicines known as antibacterials orantibiotics. These medicines kill bacteria (small organisms that can cause infection in humans) or stopbacteria from growing. Patients with weakened immune systems, includingpeople with HIV, tend to have more frequent andmore serious bacterial infections. Azithromycinwas approved by the FDA on June 14, 1996, formany uses, including the prevention and treatmentof Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) inpersons with advanced HIV infection. It is alsobeing investigated to see how well it works inpreventing other kinds of bacterial infections inpeople with HIV.

Hydroxychloroquine not associated with prolonged heart rhythm intervals in RA or lupus patients

New research presented at ACR Convergence, the American College of Rheumatology's annual meeting, discovers that use of hydroxychloroquine, a generic drug, does not cause any significant differences in QTc length or prolonged QTc, key measures of heart rate, in people with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) or systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).

6 Nov 2020

Fight against trachoma disrupted by COVID-19 pandemic

Progress towards the elimination of trachoma as a public health problem has been substantial, but the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted community-based control efforts.

2 Nov 2020

Research finds increase in risky sexual behavior and STIs despite COVID-19 pandemic

New research launched at the 29th EADV Congress, EADV Virtual, has found that despite the COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) lockdown restrictions, diagnosis of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including gonorrhoea, secondary syphilis and mycoplasma genitalium (MG), have increased.

2 Nov 2020

Simple method provides real-time surveillance to control the spread of drug-resistant gonorrhea

A dual therapy treatment regimen of expanded-spectrum cephalosporins (ESCs) plus azithromycin (AZM) is the recommended standard of care for gonorrhea.

27 Oct 2020

Template for COVID-19 management in a rural health system

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to challenge existing health networks, a new study published on the preprint server medRxiv in October 2020 reports on a strategy to address existing health care disparities in rural and urban areas of the USA. This should draw attention to the need for more such systems to ensure proper rural healthcare in the current and future pandemics.

20 Oct 2020

News coverage contributes to drug shortages in COVID-19

Researchers at Boston Children's Hospital in the U.S. have reported that the recent shortage of medicines used to treat coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) could be due to extensive news media coverage that results in individual hoarding or institutional stockpiling of medicines.

15 Oct 2020

SARS-CoV-2 and anti-COVID-19 drugs activate Kaposi sarcoma-associated herpesvirus

A new study published on the preprint server bioRxiv* aimed to investigate the impacts of COVID-19 on people with various illnesses. Specifically, the researchers at the Rockefeller Cancer Institute, and the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences wanted to see the effects of COVID-19 on patients with cancer and other infectious diseases.

6 Oct 2020

Azithromycin use for treating COVID-19 may increase risk of cardiac events

Debates over whether hydroxychloroquine should be taken to help lessen the duration and impact of COVID-19 have revolved around the drug's reputation for causing cardiac events such as abnormal heart rhythms or beats and cardiac arrest.

16 Sep 2020

AI and machine learning tools can help separate COVID-related claims

As the COVID-19 pandemic has swept the world, researchers have published hundreds of papers each week reporting their findings - many of which have not undergone a thorough peer review process to gauge their reliability.

16 Sep 2020

Identifying, preventing and treating drug-induced arrhythmias

Health care professionals should become more familiar with medications that cause irregular heart rhythms called arrhythmias, according to "Drug- Induced Arrhythmias," a new scientific statement from the American Heart Association, published today in the Association's flagship journal Circulation.

15 Sep 2020

Study: Hydroxychloroquine plus azithromycin linked to significant cardiovascular risks

The combination of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) and azithromycin (AZM) has been linked to significant cardiovascular risks, including mortality, in the largest safety study ever performed on both HCQ and HCQ+AZM.

25 Aug 2020

Study: Frequent use of antimicrobial drugs impairs bacterial diversity in saliva

The strongest associations were presented with azithromycin that is used for example to middle ear infections, strep throat and pneumonia.

24 Aug 2020

Cardiovascular disease in COVID-19

The current COVID-19 pandemic is a primarily respiratory illness, manifesting with severe hypoxia and often progressing to acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and death. However, it is also known to be linked to a wide range of cardiovascular (CV) manifestations that are associated with a very poor prognosis.

13 Aug 2020

Oxford University and ZOE join forces to widen access to COVID-19 treatment trials

Oxford University and the COVID Symptom Study app are joining forces to widen access to two clinical trials of potential treatments for COVID-19.

3 Aug 2020

Clinical trials of hydroxychloroquine in COVID-19 outpatients reported as safe

According to new research, the use of hydroxychloroquine among outpatients in clinical trials, without high-risk factors for cardiac arrhythmia, is safe.

27 Jul 2020

Prednisone, Hydroxychloroquine best among COVID-19 treatments, claims large Spanish study

The COVID-19 pandemic has taken the lives of several hundred thousand people across the world. In Spain, a intense outbreak took a toll of over 28,000 lives.

23 Jul 2020

Study identifies factors associated with death in critically ill COVID-19 patients

More than 3 million people in the United States have been infected with COVID-19 and more than 130,000 have died. More people have died of COVID-19 in the U.S. than in any other country, but few studies offer national data on the factors that may contribute to outcomes for critically ill patients.

15 Jul 2020

Dutch trial of convalescent plasma in COVID-19 discontinued

Now, a recent trial published on the preprint server medRxiv* in July 2020 reports that a majority of hospitalized COVID-19 patients have a high titer of neutralizing antibodies, at the time of admission, within 10 days of symptomatic disease.

7 Jul 2020

Favipiravir has weak effect on SARS-CoV-2 and Hydroxychloroquine none at all in hamster model

A new study from Belgian researchers shows that antiviral drug Favipiravir could have a weak effect against the dreaded novel coronavirus or severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) as seen in hamster models. However, the study also finds there is no efficacy of the much-touted drug Hydroxychloroquine.

22 Jun 2020

Low potassium levels in COVID-19 disease

Now a new study by an Italian team of researchers published in June 2020 on the preprint server medRxiv reports that potassium levels are often low in COVID-19 disease, mostly due to the urinary loss of potassium.

17 Jun 2020