Clinical outcomes of immunomodulatory therapies in the management of COVID-19 : A tertiary-care experience from Pakistan

The pharmacological management of COVID-19 has evolved significantly and various immunomodulatory agents have been repurposed. However, the clinical efficacy has been variable and a search for cure for COVID-19 continues. A retrospective cohort study was conducted on 916 patients hospitalized with polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-confirmed COVID-19 between February 2020 and October 2020 at a tertiary care academic medical center in Karachi, Pakistan. The median age was 57 years (interquartile range (IQR) 46-66 years). The most common medications administered were Methylprednisolone (65.83%), Azithromycin (50.66%), and Dexamethasone (46.6%). Majority of the patients (70%) had at least two or more medications used in combination and the most frequent combination was methylprednisolone with azithromycin. Overall in-hospital mortality was 13.65% of patients. Mortality was found to be independently associated with age greater than or equal to 60 years (OR = 4.98; 95%CI: 2.78-8.91), critical illness on admission (OR = 13.75; 95%CI: 7.27-25.99), use of hydrocortisone (OR = 12.56; 95%CI: 6.93-22.7), Ferritin> = 1500(OR = 2.07; 95%CI: 1.18-3.62), Creatinine(OR = 2.33; 95%CI: 1.31-4.14) and D-Dimer> = 1.5 (OR = 2.27; 95%CI: 1.26-4.07). None of the medications whether used as monotherapy or in combination were found to have a mortality benefit. Our study highlights the desperate need for an effective drug for the management of critical COVID-19 which necessitates usage of multiple drug combinations in patients particularly Azithromycin which has long term implications for antibiotic resistance particularly in low-middle income countries.

Medienart:

E-Artikel

Erscheinungsjahr:

2022

Erschienen:

2022

Enthalten in:

Zur Gesamtaufnahme - volume:17

Enthalten in:

PloS one - 17(2022), 1 vom: 28., Seite e0262608

Sprache:

Englisch

Beteiligte Personen:

Nasir, Noreen [VerfasserIn]
Tajuddin, Salma [VerfasserIn]
Khaskheli, Sarah [VerfasserIn]
Khan, Naveera [VerfasserIn]
Niamatullah, Hammad [VerfasserIn]
Nasir, Nosheen [VerfasserIn]

Links:

Volltext

Themen:

7S5I7G3JQL
83905-01-5
Azithromycin
Dexamethasone
Immunomodulating Agents
Journal Article
Methylprednisolone
X4W7ZR7023

Anmerkungen:

Date Completed 03.02.2022

Date Revised 03.02.2022

published: Electronic-eCollection

Citation Status MEDLINE

doi:

10.1371/journal.pone.0262608

funding:

Förderinstitution / Projekttitel:

PPN (Katalog-ID):

NLM336196784