Treatment |
Improvement |
Studies |
China |
India |
USA |
Indonesia |
Pakistan |
Brazil |
Nigeria |
Bangladesh |
Russia |
Mexico |
Japan |
Ethiopia |
Philippines |
Egypt |
Vietnam |
DR Congo |
Germany |
Iran |
Turkey |
Thailand |
United Kingdom |
France |
Italy |
South Africa |
Kenya |
Myanmar |
Colombia |
South Korea |
Spain |
Uganda |
Argentina |
Algeria |
Sudan |
Ukraine |
Iraq |
Afghanistan |
Canada |
Poland |
Morocco |
Saudi Arabia |
Angola |
Peru |
Uzbekistan |
Malaysia |
Ghana |
Mozambique |
Yemen |
Nepal |
Madagascar |
Venezuela |
Cameroon |
Australia |
Côte d'Ivoire |
Niger |
Taiwan |
PX | 92% | 2 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
FV | 89% | 2 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
PI | 85% | 3 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
BU | 82% | 1 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
V.D | 81% | 2 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
IVM | 81% | 18 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
BH | 79% | 2 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
BL | 75% | 3 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
CI | 66% | 2 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
(H)CQ | 65% | 26 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
NZ | 49% | 5 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Zn | 42% | 2 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
FPV | 38% | 3 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
V.C | 18% | 1 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
RD | - | 0 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
CO | - | 0 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
IC | - | 0 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Global adoption of early treatments. Studies and improvement refer to early
treatment. Countries ordered by population.
Official: Unofficial:
All studies combined (pooled effects, all stages) | |||||
Medication | Improvement | Studies | Authors | Patients | |
Proxalutamide | 92% [87‑95%] | 3 | 20 | 1,041 | |
Fluvoxamine | 89% [15‑99%] | 2 | 13 | 277 | |
Iota-carrageenan | 80% [9‑96%] | 1 | 18 | 394 | |
Ivermectin | 72% [64‑78%] | 52 | 426 | 17,557 | |
Casiri/imdevimab | 70% [52‑81%] | 4 | 4 | 4,793 | |
Povidone-Iodine | 68% [19‑88%] | 4 | 44 | 1,994 | |
Nitazoxanide | 58% [-30‑86%] | 6 | 87 | 1,464 | |
Bamlanivimab | 57% [19‑77%] | 6 | 64 | 3,121 | |
Budesonide | 54% [-96‑89%] | 2 | 48 | 1,806 | |
Vitamin D | 51% [37‑61%] | 22 | 225 | 22,660 | |
Bromhexine | 44% [22‑60%] | 5 | 56 | 291 | |
Colchicine | 43% [15‑62%] | 9 | 182 | 5,719 | |
Zinc | 39% [29‑48%] | 10 | 96 | 6,913 | |
Favipiravir | 29% [7‑46%] | 8 | 169 | 1,178 | |
Hydroxychloroquine | 27% [23‑32%] | 237 | 3,761 | 363,648 | |
Remdesivir | 24% [8‑38%] | 14 | 232 | 22,358 | |
Vitamin C | 18% [1‑33%] | 8 | 96 | 1,168 | |
Early treatment studies (pooled effects) | |||||
Medication | Improvement | Studies | Authors | Patients | |
Proxalutamide | 92% [82‑96%] | 2 | 15 | 451 | |
Fluvoxamine | 89% [15‑99%] | 2 | 13 | 277 | |
Povidone-Iodine | 85% [52‑95%] | 3 | 29 | 640 | |
Budesonide | 82% [21‑96%] | 1 | 24 | 146 | |
Vitamin D | 81% [39‑94%] | 2 | 13 | 114 | |
Ivermectin | 81% [61‑91%] | 18 | 175 | 1,937 | |
Bromhexine | 79% [28‑94%] | 2 | 21 | 96 | |
Bamlanivimab | 75% [46‑88%] | 3 | 40 | 1,374 | |
Casiri/imdevimab | 66% [35‑82%] | 2 | 2 | 2,879 | |
Hydroxychloroquine | 65% [50‑75%] | 26 | 414 | 44,235 | |
Nitazoxanide | 49% [-127‑88%] | 5 | 67 | 1,414 | |
Zinc | 42% [-111‑84%] | 2 | 14 | 626 | |
Favipiravir | 38% [-2‑62%] | 3 | 52 | 410 | |
Vitamin C | 18% [-191‑77%] | 1 | 11 | 98 | |
All mortality results (all stages) | |||||
Medication | Improvement | Studies | Authors | Patients | |
Proxalutamide | 91% [85‑95%] | 2 | 12 | 804 | |
Bromhexine | 91% [-57‑99%] | 2 | 18 | 178 | |
Povidone-Iodine | 88% [50‑97%] | 1 | 6 | 606 | |
Ivermectin | 76% [58‑86%] | 18 | 155 | 7,267 | |
Vitamin D | 62% [41‑75%] | 13 | 116 | 8,432 | |
Nitazoxanide | 60% [-58‑90%] | 3 | 32 | 923 | |
Bamlanivimab | 48% [-171‑90%] | 3 | 24 | 1,551 | |
Colchicine | 43% [15‑62%] | 9 | 182 | 5,719 | |
Zinc | 37% [26‑46%] | 6 | 54 | 4,591 | |
Remdesivir | 26% [7‑41%] | 13 | 225 | 22,216 | |
Vitamin C | 25% [-2‑45%] | 5 | 64 | 626 | |
Hydroxychloroquine | 25% [19‑31%] | 146 | 2,535 | 250,055 | |
Favipiravir | -15% [-94‑32%] | 2 | 54 | 465 | |
Early treatment mortality results | |||||
Medication | Improvement | Studies | Authors | Patients | |
Bamlanivimab | 92% [-43‑100%] | 1 | 1 | 769 | |
Bromhexine | 91% [-59‑99%] | 1 | 11 | 78 | |
Povidone-Iodine | 88% [50‑97%] | 1 | 6 | 606 | |
Ivermectin | 84% [37‑96%] | 4 | 37 | 802 | |
Vitamin D | 81% [39‑94%] | 2 | 13 | 114 | |
Proxalutamide | 81% [-290‑99%] | 1 | 7 | 214 | |
Zinc | 79% [-47‑97%] | 1 | 3 | 518 | |
Hydroxychloroquine | 72% [57‑82%] | 11 | 158 | 40,652 | |
Favipiravir | 45% [-481‑95%] | 1 | 10 | 92 | |
Nitazoxanide | 41% [-1278‑98%] | 2 | 12 | 873 |
Recent studies (see the individual treatment pages for all studies):
4/27 |
In Vitro | et al., bioRxiv, doi:10.1101/2021.04.27.441512 (Preprint) (In Vitro) | in vitro | Iota-carrageenan prevents the replication of SARS-CoV-2 on an in vitro respiratory epithelium model |
In Vitro Calu-3 (human respiratory epithelial cell line) study showing that iota-carrageenan inhibits SARS-CoV-2. | ||||
4/26 |
Late | et al., (Peer Reviewed) | death, ↑81.0%, p=0.007 | Clinical review of COVID-19 patients presenting to a quaternary care private hospital in South India: A retrospective study |
Retrospective 3,345 hospitalized patients in India, 11.5% treated with HCQ, showing unadjusted higher mortality with treatment. Confounding by indication and time based confounding (due to declining use over the period when overall treatm.. | ||||
4/26 |
Levels | et al., Journal of Translational Medicine, doi:10.1186/s12967-021-02838-x (Peer Reviewed) | Vitamin D status of Arab Gulf residents screened for SARS-CoV-2 and its association with COVID-19 infection: a multi-centre case–control study | |
Case control study with 220 adults showing significantly lower vitamin D levels in PCR+ patients. | ||||
4/23 |
Late | et al., SSRN (Preprint) | A Cross-Country Analysis of the Determinants of COVID-19 Fatalities | |
Country based analysis finding lower mortality with the use of HCQ. | ||||
4/22 |
Late | et al., JAMA Network Open, doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.6468 (Peer Reviewed) | death, ↓66.0%, p=1.00 | Effect of Early Treatment With Hydroxychloroquine or Lopinavir and Ritonavir on Risk of Hospitalization Among Patients With COVID-19 The TOGETHER Randomized Clinical Trial |
Early terminated RCT in Brazil showing lower mortality and hospitalization with HCQ, but not reaching statistical significance. Although the title includes "early treatment", treatment was relatively late, with most patients bei.. | ||||
4/21 |
Late | et al., International Immunopharmacology, doi:10.1016/j.intimp.2021.107702 (Peer Reviewed) | viral+, ↓59.0%, p=0.06 | Favipiravir in the treatment of patients with SARS-CoV-2 RNA recurrent positive after discharge: a multicenter, open-label, randomized trial |
RCT with 55 patients (36 favipiravir, 19 control) who were PCR+ after recovery, showing improved viral clearance with treatment. | ||||
4/20 |
Review | et al., Front. Pharmacol., doi:10.3389/fphar.2021.652688 (Review) (Peer Reviewed) | review | Fluvoxamine: A Review of Its Mechanism of Action and Its Role in COVID-19 |
Review of mechanisms of action of fluvoxamine and other SSRIs that could be beneficial for COVID-19 treatment, including lower platelet aggregation, decreased mast cell degranulation, interference with endolysosomal viral trafficking, reg.. | ||||
4/20 |
Early | et al., medRxiv, doi:10.1101/2021.04.19.21255441 (Preprint) | death, ↑206.0%, p=0.49 | Early treatment with nitazoxanide prevents worsening of mild and moderate COVID-19 and subsequent hospitalization |
RCT with 184 outpatients treated with an extended release formulation of nitazoxanide, and 195 controls, showing lower hospitalization and progression to severe disease with treatment. There was one COVID-19 related death in the treatment.. | ||||
4/19 |
Review | et al., Open Heart, doi:10.1136/openhrt-2021-001655 (Review) (Peer Reviewed) | review | Anti-inflammatory activity of ivermectin in late-stage COVID-19 may reflect activation of systemic glycine receptors |
Review suggesting that the effectiveness of ivermectin in the cytokine storm phase of COVID-19 may be, at least in part, an anti-inflammatory effect mediated by increased activation of glycine receptors on leukocytes and possibly vascular.. | ||||
4/19 |
Late | , Fujita Health University (Preprint) | Favipiravir Observational Study Interim Report 3 | |
Retrospective analysis of favipiravir use in 10,986 hospitalized patients, including analysis of changes in clinical status and side effects. Common adverse events were uric acid level increase and liver function enzyme increase. Authors .. | ||||
4/17 |
Review | et al., International Immunopharmacology, doi:10.1016/j.intimp.2021.107686 (Review) (Peer Reviewed) | review | The role of vitamin D in reducing SARS-CoV-2 infection: An update |
Review of vitamin D for COVID-19 noting that infections are likely to be more prevalent in the winter season; clinical trials show vitamin D as a potential therapeutic agent; vitamin D is beneficial against COVID-19 by reducing inflammato.. | ||||
4/17 |
Early | et al., Journal of Infection and Chemotherapy, doi:10.1016/j.jiac.2021.04.013 (Peer Reviewed) | Early favipiravir treatment was associated with early defervescence in non-severe COVID-19 patients | |
Retrospective 41 favipiravir patients finding that early treatment was more successful. | ||||
4/16 |
PrEP | et al., medRxiv, doi:10.1101/2021.04.10.21255248 (Preprint) | hosp., ↓80.0%, p=0.50 | Retrospective cohort study of Ivermectin as a SARS-CoV-2 pre-exposure prophylactic method in Healthcare Workers |
Propensity matched retrospective prophylaxis study of healthcare workers in the Dominican Republic showing significantly lower cases with treatment, and no hospitalization with treatment (versus 2 in the PSM matched control group). The ca.. | ||||
4/15 |
PrEP | et al., Rheumatology International , doi:10.1007/s00296-021-04857-9 (Peer Reviewed) | death, ↓58.8%, p=1.00 | Clinical characteristics and outcome of COVID-19 in patients with rheumatic diseases |
Retrospective 47 rheumatic disease patients not finding significant differences with HCQ. | ||||
4/15 |
PrEP | et al., medRxiv, doi:10.1101/2021.04.13.21255409 (Preprint) | symp. case, ↓79.8%, p=0.04 | Efficacy of a nasal spray containing Iota-Carrageenan in the prophylaxis of COVID-19 in hospital personnel dedicated to patients care with COVID-19 disease A pragmatic multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial (CARR-COV-02) |
Prophylaxis RCT with 394 healthcare workers, 196 treated with iota-carrageenan, showing significantly lower symptomatic cases with treatment. There were no deaths or hospitalizations. There was a significant number of PCR- symptomatic cas.. | ||||
4/15 |
Levels | et al., Metabolites, doi:10.3390/metabo11040244 (Peer Reviewed) | Serum Zinc, Copper, and Other Biometals Are Associated with COVID-19 Severity Markers | |
Analysis of serum metal levels in 150 COVID-19 patients and 44 controls, finding that COVID-19 severity was associated with lower serum Ca, Fe, Se, Zn levels when compared to controls. | ||||
4/15 |
PrEP | et al., Rheumatology, doi:10.1093/rheumatology/keab348 (Peer Reviewed) | death, ↑8.0%, p=0.64 | Risk of COVID-19 hospitalization and mortality in rheumatic patients treated with hydroxychloroquine or other conventional DMARDs in Italy |
Retrospective database analysis case control study of rheumatic patients. When compared with other cDMARDs, HCQ users had significantly lower hospitalization, however there was no significant difference in mortality. Results differ signif.. | ||||
4/14 |
Late | et al., Immunopathologia Persa, doi:10.34172/ipp.2021.xx (Peer Reviewed) | ICU, ↓46.3%, p=0.46 | The effect of vitamin E and vitamin C in patients with COVID-19 pneumonia; a randomized controlled clinical trial |
RCT with 38 patients treated with vitamin C and vitamin E, and 34 control patients, showing lower ICU admission with treatment, but not statistically significant. | ||||
4/14 |
PEP | et al., International Journal of Infectious Diseases, doi:10.1016/j.ijid.2021.04.035 (Peer Reviewed) | severe case, ↓49.8%, p=0.01 | Positive impact of oral hydroxychloroquine and povidone-iodine throat spray for COVID-19 prophylaxis: an open-label randomized trial |
Prophylaxis RCT in Singapore with 3,037 low risk patients, showing lower serious cases, lower symptomatic cases, and lower confirmed cases of COVID-19 with all treatments (ivermectin, HCQ, PVP-I, and Zinc + vitamin C) compared to vitamin .. | ||||
4/12 |
PEP | Press Release (Preprint) | hosp./ER, ↓88.9%, p=0.06 | Phase 3 prevention trial showed 81% reduced risk of symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infections with subcutaneous administration of REGEN-COV™ (casirivimab and imdevimab) |
Press release for a phase 3 prophylaxis trial reporting lower hospitalization/ER and symptomatic cases, and faster recovery with 1,200mg subcutaneous casirivimab with imdevimab. | ||||
4/12 |
Late | et al., medRxiv, doi:10.1101/2021.04.10.21254672 (Preprint) | hosp./death, ↓17.5%, p=0.24 | Inhaled budesonide for COVID-19 in people at higher risk of adverse outcomes in the community: interim analyses from the PRINCIPLE trial |
Interim results from the PRINCIPLE trial, 751 treated with budesonide starting a median of 6 days after symptom onset, showing lower hospitalization/death, and faster recovery with treatment. | ||||
4/10 |
In Silico | et al., Journal of Biomolecular Structure and Dynamics, doi:10.1080/07391102.2021.1911857 (Peer Reviewed) | Elucidation of the inhibitory activity of ivermectin with host nuclear importin α and several SARS-CoV-2 targets | |
In Silico analysis finding that the in vitro activity of ivermectin may explained by acting as an inhibitor of importin-α, dimeric 3CLpro, and Nsp9. |
We aim to cover the most promising early treatments for
COVID-19. We use pre-specified effect extraction criteria that prioritizes
more serious outcomes, for details see methods. For specific
outcomes and different treatment stages see the individual pages. Treatments
with only 3 or fewer studies are shown in grey. Not all treatments are covered
here, effectiveness has been reported for many other treatments in studies. Of
the 598 studies,
445 present results comparing
with a control group, 393 are treatment studies, and
52 analyze outcomes based on serum levels.
Please send us corrections, updates, or comments. Vaccines and treatments are both extremely valuable and complementary;
multiple approaches are required to cover all people and all existing and
future variants. We do not provide medical advice. Before taking any
medication, consult a qualified physician who can provide personalized advice
and details of risks and benefits based on your medical history and situation.
Treatment protocols for physicians are available from the FLCCC.
Thanks for your feedback! Please search before submitting papers and note that studies are listed under the date they were
first available, which may be the date of an earlier preprint.
Submit