Efficacy of Doxycycline in treating COVID-19 Positive Patients: A Case Series

Abstract Background: Given the high morbidity and mortality caused by Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), scientific research is necessary to achieve a proper treatment regimen. Since doxycycline is effective in reducing inflammatory factors, including IL-6 and TNF-alpha that play an important role in initiating cytokine storms and probably causing death in patients with COVID-19, its use is associated with low side effects and can be used orally, the present study was attempted to evaluate the efficacy of doxycycline in the treatment of inpatients and outpatients with COVID-19.Methods: This descriptive and prospective study was performed on inpatients and outpatients were diagnosed with COVID-19 based on polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test from nasopharyngeal secretions or computerized tomography scan (CT Scan). Patients who met the inclusion criteria received doxycycline at a dose of 100 mg every 12 hours for 7 days and then were evaluated on the baseline day and on days 3, 7, and 14 after admission for cough, Shortness of breath, temperature and oxygen saturation.Results: Out of 21 patients, 11 patients were male and 10 patients were female. Cough, SOB, temperature, and O2 sat improved in both of outpatients and inpatients compared to baseline. In general, the results showed that doxycycline was more effective in improving cough, SOB, temperature, and O2 sat in outpatients than inpatients. Conclusion: It can be concluded that doxycycline with the dose and duration prescribed in our study could play an effective role in the treatment of patients with COVID-19.