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Acta medica Croatica : Časopis Akademije medicinskih znanosti Hrvatske, Vol. 74 No. 2, 2020.

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COVID-19: OUR FIRST TREATMENT EXPERIENCES

VEDRANA TERKEŠ orcid id orcid.org/0000-0001-7406-6342 ; General Hospital Zadar, Department of Infectology, Zadar, Croatia
MIRO MOROVIĆ ; General Hospital Zadar, Department of Physical Medicine, Rehabilitation and Rheumatology, Zadar, Croatia
NEVEN BIRKIĆ ; General Hospital Zadar, Department of Anaestesiology, Reanimatology and Intensive Medicine, Zadar, Croatia
EDI KARUC ; Opća bolnica Zadar, Odjel za anesteziologiju, reanimatologiju i intenzivnu medicinu, Zadar, Hrvatska
MARIJA PERIĆ BEŠLIĆ ; General Hospital Zadar, Department of Infectology, Zadar, Croatia
ANELA TOLIĆ ; General Hospital Zadar, Department of Clinical Radiology, Zadar, Croatia

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Abstract

Background: The sudden outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) fi nds healthcare systems worldwide completely unprepared and all the attempts at treatment remain at the level of clinical investigations or empiric treatments, and therefore there are different treatment outcomes. Chloroquine, an old antimalarial drug and tocilizumab, the fi rst marketed interleukin-6 blocking antibody belong to the drugs that are in use in numerous randomized clinical trials today. The aim of this report is to present our fi rst experiences with these drugs in the treatment of COVID-19 infection. Methods: In the period from March 10 to May 9, 2020, 85 individuals with real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) positive fi ndings of SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus were registered in the Zadar County; 31 (36.5%) of them were hospitalized. Chloroquine was the initial treatment in 27 (87.1%) and a combination of lopinavir/ritonavir in three (9.6%) subjects. Results: Five (16.1%) patients of those treated with chloroquine were admitted to the intensive care unit because of progressive course of the disease and need for mechanical ventilation, while another three (9.6%) patients received tocilizumab, with good clinical outcome. Conclusion: Our results suggest the need for early inclusion of chloroquine in the treatment protocol for COVID-19 infection, and tocilizumab in the cases of severe form of the infection to prevent the disease progression.

Keywords

SARS-CoV-2; COVID-19; chloroquine; tocilizumab; antibiotics

Hrčak ID:

244544

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/244544

Publication date:

6.10.2020.

Article data in other languages: croatian

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