Twice daily oral zinc in the treatment of patients with Coronavirus Disease-19: A randomized double-blind controlled trial

Abstract: Clinical Infectious Diseases RESEARCH ARTICLE SC RI PT Twice daily oral zinc in the treatment of patients with Coronavirus Disease-19 A randomized double-blind controlled trial A N U Saoussen Ben Abdallah1, MD Yosra Mhalla13, MD Imen Trabelsi3, PhD Adel Sekma2,3, MD Rim Youssef3,4, MD Khaoula Bel Haj Ali2,3, MD Houda Ben Soltane3,5, MD HajerYacoubi3,4, MD Mohamed Amine Msolli2,3, MD Nejla Stambouli6, PhD Kaouthar Beltaief2,3, MD Mohamed Habib Grissa2,3, MD Meriem Khrouf3,5, MD Zied Mezgar3,5, MD Chawki Loussaief7, MD Wahid Bouida2,3, MD Rabie Razgallah8, MD Karima Hezbri9, PhD Asma Belguith10, MD Naouel Belkacem11, MD Zohra Dridi12, MD Hamdi Boubaker2,3, MD Riadh Boukef3,4, MD Semir Nouira2,3, MD 1 Medical intensive care unit, Fattouma Bourguiba University Hospital, 5000 Monastir, Tunisia; Emergency Department, Fattouma Bourguiba University Hospital, 5000 Monastir, Tunisia; 3 Research Laboratory LR12SP18 University of Monastir, 5019 Tunisia; 4Emergency Department, Sahloul University Hospital, 4011 Sousse, Tunisia; 5Emergency Department, Farhat Hached University Hospital, 4011 Sousse, Tunisia; 6UR17DN03 - Research Unit, Military Defense, Military Hospital of Tunis, Tunisia; 7Department of Infectious Disease Fattouma Bourguiba University Hospital, 5000 Monastir, Tunisia; 8DACIMA Consulting 1053 Tunis, Tunisia; 9 Medical affairs manager, Opalia Recordati, Tunis, Tunisia; 10Department of Preventive Medicine, TE D M 2 EP —————————————————————————————————————————— CC Corresponding author: Pr. Semir Nouira, Emergency Department and Laboratory Research (LR12SP18), Fattouma Bourguiba University Hospital, 5000, Monastir, Tunisia; +216 73 106 046. E-mail : semir.nouira@rns.tn. A Alternate corresponding author: Dr. Khaoula Bel Haj Ali, Emergency Department and Laboratory Research (LR12SP18), Fattouma Bourguiba University Hospital, 5000, Monastir, Tunisia. +216 29777277. E-mail : belhajalikhaoula@yahoo.fr. © The Author(s) 2022. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Infectious Diseases Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com This article is published and distributed under the terms of the Oxford University Press, Standard Journals Publication Model (https://academic.oup.com/journals/pages/open_access/funder_policies/chorus/standard_ publication_model) DOI: 10.1093/cid/ciac807 1 Fattouma Bourguiba University Hospital, 5000 Monastir, Tunisia; 11District hospital Teboulba, Tunisia; 12Department of cardiology, Fattouma Bourguiba University Hospital, 5000 Monastir, Tunisia; 13Laboratory of microbiology, Fattouma Bourguiba University Hospital, 5000 Monastir, Tunisia; SC RI PT Background: Zinc supplementation has been considered one of the potential therapies for coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19). We aimed to examine zinc efficacy in adult patients with COVID-19 infection. U Methods: We conducted a prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicenter trial. Patients tested positive for COVID-19 without end organ failure were randomized to oral zinc (n=231) or matching placebo (n=239) for 15 days. The primary combined outcome was death due to COVID-19 or ICU admission within 30 days after randomization. Secondary outcomes included length of hospital stay for inpatients and duration of COVID-19 symptoms with COVID19 related hospitalization for outpatients. TE D M A N Findings: One hundred ninety patients (40.4%) were ambulatory and 280..