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Because azithromycin has antiviral and anti-inflammatory properties (in addition to its established antibacterial effect), some clinicians advocated using it for COVID-19 early in the pandemic. Since then, several randomized trials have shown no clinical benefit, but some clinicians still might be prescribing it.
For outpatients, the most recently published randomized trial (ATOMIC2) involved 295 adult U.K. outpatients (mean age, 46) with strongly suspected or documented COVID-19. Patients received either azithromycin (500 mg daily for 14 days) or standard care. The primary outcome — hospitalization or death at 28 days — was similar in the two groups (10.3% vs. 11.6%; P=0.8). One person in each group died. In the subgroup of patients who had…