Effect of common COVID-19 antibiotic found similar to that of placebo

California, July 17 -- : The findings of a new study from UC San Francisco suggests that among non-hospitalized patients the antibiotic azithromycin was no more effective than a placebo in preventing symptoms of COVID-19. Despite widespread prescription of the antibiotic for the disease, it might increase the chance of hospitalization.

The study, which was conducted in collaboration with Stanford University, appeared in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

"These findings do not support the routine use of azithromycin for outpatient SARS-CoV-2 infection," said lead author Catherine E. Oldenburg, ScD, MPH, an assistant professor with the UCSF Proctor Foundation. SARS-CoV-2 is the virus that causes COVID-19.

Azithromycin, a bro...