COVID-19 prophylaxis with doxycycline and zinc in health care workers: a prospective, randomized, double-blind clinical trial

• Published in: International journal of infectious diseases Vol. 122; pp. 553 - 558
• Main Authors: Stambouli, Nejla, Driss, Adel, Gargouri, Faten, Bahrini, Khadija, Arfaoui, Bilel, Abid, Rim, Taamallah, Karima, Hannachi, Souha, Boughariou, Sana, Rebai, Aicha, Naas, Imen, Ghanem, Mohamed, Ammar, Hassib, Aichaouia, Chiraz, Harrathi, Asma, Yousfi, Mohamed Ali, Battikh, Riadh, Moussa, Mohamed Ben, Razgallah, Rabie, Ferjani, Mustapha, Gharsallah, Hédi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Canada Elsevier Ltd 01-09-2022; The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of International Society for Infectious Diseases; Elsevier
• Subjects: COVID-19 - prevention & control; COVID-19 Drug Treatment; COVID-19 infection; Double-Blind Method; Doxycycline; Doxycycline - therapeutic use; Health Personnel; Humans; Placebo; Prophylactic; Prospective Studies; SARS-CoV-2; Treatment Outcome; Zinc; Zinc - therapeutic use; COVID-19 infection; Prophylactic; Zinc; Doxycycline; Placebo
• ISSN: 1201-9712; 1878-3511
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijid.2022.06.016

•Efficacy of doxycycline and zinc as potential treatment of SARS-CoV-2 infection is discussed.•SARS-CoV-2 contamination appeared to be reduced after treatment.•COVID-19 infection risk was not associated with other comorbidities.•The combined treatments of doxycycline and zinc have minimal side effects.
This study aims to assess the efficacy of a combination treatment of doxycycline and zinc in the primary prevention of COVID-19 infection in Tunisian health care workers compared with two control groups.
We conducted a prospective, randomized, double-blind clinical trial over 5 months to determine the efficacy of a preventive combination treatment dose of doxycycline (100 mg/day) and zinc (15 mg/day), compared with a single-dose treatment with doxycycline versus placebo. The effectiveness of preventive treatment was measured by the significant decline in the number of cases of COVID-19 infection and/or a decrease in the viral load as determined by SARS-CoV-2 cycle threshold value using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction tests.
We detected a significant decrease of SARS-CoV-2 infection in the group that received both doxycycline and zinc compared with other participants. We also demonstrated that COVID-19 infection was neither associated with diabetes (P = 0.51) nor associated with hypertension (P = 0.99), asthma (P = 0.52), and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (P = 0.27).
Our findings indicated that preventive therapy reduced the risk of SARS-CoV-2. These results suggest that the combination of doxycycline and zinc has a protective effect in patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection.