ABSTRACT
Objectives: Since its first appearance in Wuhan December 2019, SARS-CoV2 virus received great attention due to its severe symptoms and high spread causing COVID-19 disease which spread all over the world like a pandemic. The causative virus is capable of human-to-human transmission via droplet and direct contact suggesting that upper respiratory tract is the main site to virus manifestations. There is a great diversity in its clinical picture, although the severe respiratory and neurological symptoms are commonly present;however, other symptoms are present. Although otological manifestations are reported in many COVID-19 patients even in asymptomatic cases, they did not receive much attention compared with other critical manifestations. In this article, we paid our attention specifically to the otological manifestations of COVID-19 and their relevance either to the virus infection, treatment, or vaccination through literature review. Conclusion(s): COVID-19 disease has a deleterious effect on the inner ear. This effect is not only due to SARS-Cov-2 infection, but it could be also due to the ototoxic drugs used for treatment. The COVID-19 vaccinations are found to be implicated in the otological symptoms in some cases.Copyright © 2022, The Author(s).
ABSTRACT
Background: Currently, the present world is facing a new deadly challenge from a pandemic disease called COVID-19, which is caused by a coronavirus named SARS-CoV-2. To date, no drug or vaccine can treat COVID-19 completely, but some drugs have been used primarily, and they are in different stages of clinical trials. This review article discussed and compared those drugs which are running ahead in COVID-19 treatments. Method(s): We have explored PUBMED, SCOPUS, WEB OF SCIENCE, as well as press releases of WHO, NIH and FDA for articles related to COVID-19 and reviewed them. Result(s): Drugs like favipiravir, remdesivir, lopinavir/ritonavir, hydroxychloroquine, azithromycin, ivermectin, corticosteroids and interferons have been found effective to some extent, and partially approved by FDA and WHO to treat COVID-19 at different levels. However, some of these drugs have been disapproved later, although clinical trials are going on. In parallel, plasma therapy has been found fruitful to some extent too, and a number of vaccine trials are going on. Conclusion(s): This review article discussed the epidemiologic and mechanistic characteristics of SARS-CoV-2, and how drugs could act on this virus with the comparative discussion on progress and drawbacks of major drugs used till date, which might be beneficial for choosing therapies against COVID-19 in different countries.Copyright © 2022 Bentham Science Publishers.
ABSTRACT
Most of the medicines used to treat the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) are either approved under an accelerated procedure or not approved for the indication. Consequently, their safety requires special attention. The aim of the study was to review methodological approaches to collecting data on the safety of medicines, using COVID-19 treatment regimens involving azithromycin as a case study. Material(s) and Method(s): PubMed (MEDLINE), Scopus, eLIBRARY, and Cyberleninka databases were searched for publications on azithromycin as part of combination therapy for COVID-19 in 2020-2021. Search queries included names of the medicinal product or its pharmacotherapeutic group and words describing adverse drug reactions (ADRs) during treatment. Result(s): the analysis included 7 publications presenting the results of studies covering the use of azithromycin as part of COVID-19 combination therapy in more than 4000 patients. Most commonly, the patients receiving COVID-19 therapy including azithromycin developed cardiovascular ADRs (up to 30% of azithromycin prescription cases). In 3 of the analysed publications, safety information was collected through spontaneous reporting and active identification based on the findings of laboratory and instrumental investigations performed during the clinical studies;in other 3, only spontaneous reports were used;and in the last one, ADR database information was studied. Conclusion(s): currently, information on ADRs associated with the use of medicines is mainly gathered via spontaneous reporting. Direct sourcing of information on personal experiences with a certain product from patients, among other means through social media analysis, opens a promising direction towards the improvement of existing approaches to collecting safety data.Copyright © 2022 Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproduction. All rights reserved.