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Propolis for COVID-19: real-time meta analysis of 3 studies

@CovidAnalysis, November 2024, Version 3V3
 
0 0.5 1 1.5+ All studies 41% 3 410 Improvement, Studies, Patients Relative Risk Mortality 86% 1 140 Ventilation 37% 2 270 ICU admission 28% 3 372 Hospitalization 26% 2 272 RCTs 41% 3 410 Late 41% 3 410 Propolis for COVID-19 c19early.org November 2024 Favorspropolis Favorscontrol
Abstract
Statistically significant lower risk is seen for hospitalization and recovery. 3 studies from 2 independent teams in 2 countries show significant improvements.
Meta analysis using the most serious outcome reported shows 41% [-13‑69%] lower risk, without reaching statistical significance. Currently all studies are RCTs.
0 0.5 1 1.5+ All studies 41% 3 410 Improvement, Studies, Patients Relative Risk Mortality 86% 1 140 Ventilation 37% 2 270 ICU admission 28% 3 372 Hospitalization 26% 2 272 RCTs 41% 3 410 Late 41% 3 410 Propolis for COVID-19 c19early.org November 2024 Favorspropolis Favorscontrol
Currently there is limited data, with only 410 patients and only 23 control events for the most serious outcome in trials to date. Studies to date are from only 2 different groups.
No treatment or intervention is 100% effective. All practical, effective, and safe means should be used based on risk/benefit analysis. Multiple treatments are typically used in combination, and other treatments may be more effective. There has been no early treatment studies to date.
All data to reproduce this paper and sources are in the appendix.
Evolution of COVID-19 clinical evidence Meta analysis results over time Propolis p=0.11 Acetaminophen p=0.00000029 2020 2021 2022 2023 Lowerrisk Higherrisk c19early.org November 2024 100% 50% 0% -50%
Propolis for COVID-19 — Highlights
Propolis reduces risk with low confidence for hospitalization, recovery, and in pooled analysis, and very low confidence for mortality and ventilation.
Real-time updates and corrections, transparent analysis with all results in the same format, consistent protocol for 109 treatments, outcome specific analyses and combined evidence from all studies.
A
0 0.25 0.5 0.75 1 1.25 1.5 1.75 2+ BeeCovid Silveira (RCT) 62% 0.38 [0.11-1.31] ventilation 3/41 8/41 Improvement, RR [CI] Treatment Control BeeCovid2 Silveira (DB RCT) 22% 0.78 [0.34-1.66] ventilation 10/98 12/90 Kosari (DB RCT) 86% 0.14 [0.01-2.72] death 0/70 3/70 CT​1 Tau​2 = 0.00, I​2 = 0.0%, p = 0.11 Late treatment 41% 0.59 [0.31-1.13] 13/209 23/201 41% lower risk All studies 41% 0.59 [0.31-1.13] 13/209 23/201 41% lower risk 3 propolis COVID-19 studies c19early.org November 2024 Tau​2 = 0.00, I​2 = 0.0%, p = 0.11 Effect extraction pre-specified(most serious outcome, see appendix) 1 CT: study uses combined treatment Favors propolis Favors control
0 0.25 0.5 0.75 1 1.25 1.5 1.75 2+ BeeCovid Silveira (RCT) 62% ventilation Improvement Relative Risk [CI] BeeCovid2 Silveira (DB RCT) 22% ventilation Kosari (DB RCT) 86% death CT​1 Tau​2 = 0.00, I​2 = 0.0%, p = 0.11 Late treatment 41% 41% lower risk All studies 41% 41% lower risk 3 propolis C19 studies c19early.org November 2024 Tau​2 = 0.00, I​2 = 0.0%, p = 0.11 Protocol pre-specified/rotate for details1 CT: study uses combined treatment Favors propolis Favors control
B
-100% -50% 0% 50% 100% Timeline of COVID-19 propolis studies (pooled effects) 2020 2021 2022 2023 Favorspropolis Favorscontrol c19early.org November 2024
Figure 1. A. Random effects meta-analysis. This plot shows pooled effects, see the specific outcome analyses for individual outcomes. Analysis validating pooled outcomes for COVID-19 can be found below. Effect extraction is pre-specified, using the most serious outcome reported. For details see the appendix. B. Timeline of results in propolis studies.
Introduction
SARS-CoV-2 infection primarily begins in the upper respiratory tract and may progress to the lower respiratory tract, other tissues, and the nervous and cardiovascular systems, which may lead to cytokine storm, pneumonia, ARDS, neurological injury1-11 and cognitive deficits3,8, cardiovascular complications12-14, organ failure, and death. Minimizing replication as early as possible is recommended.
SARS-CoV-2 infection and replication involves the complex interplay of 50+ host and viral proteins and other factorsA,15-20, providing many therapeutic targets for which many existing compounds have known activity. Scientists have predicted that over 8,000 compounds may reduce COVID-19 risk21, either by directly minimizing infection or replication, by supporting immune system function, or by minimizing secondary complications.
We analyze all significant controlled studies of propolis for COVID-19. Search methods, inclusion criteria, effect extraction criteria (more serious outcomes have priority), all individual study data, PRISMA answers, and statistical methods are detailed in Appendix 1. We present random effects meta-analysis results for all studies, individual outcomes, and Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs).
Figure 2 shows stages of possible treatment for COVID-19. Prophylaxis refers to regularly taking medication before becoming sick, in order to prevent or minimize infection. Early Treatment refers to treatment immediately or soon after symptoms appear, while Late Treatment refers to more delayed treatment. Currently all propolis studies use late treatment.
Figure 2. Treatment stages.
Preclinical Research
An In Silico study supports the efficacy of propolis22.
2 In Vitro studies support the efficacy of propolis23,24.
Preclinical research is an important part of the development of treatments, however results may be very different in clinical trials. Preclinical results are not used in this paper.
Results
Table 1 summarizes the results for all studies, for Randomized Controlled Trials, and for specific outcomes. Figure 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 show forest plots for random effects meta-analysis of all studies with pooled effects, mortality results, ventilation, ICU admission, hospitalization, and recovery.
Table 1. Random effects meta-analysis for all studies, for Randomized Controlled Trials, and for specific outcomes. Results show the percentage improvement with treatment and the 95% confidence interval. * p<0.05.
Improvement Studies Patients Authors
All studies41% [-13‑69%]3 410 64
Randomized Controlled TrialsRCTs41% [-13‑69%]3 410 64
VentilationVent.37% [-23‑68%]2 270 49
ICU admissionICU28% [-39‑63%]3 372 64
HospitalizationHosp.26% [5‑42%]
*
2 272 49
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Figure 3. Random effects meta-analysis for all studies. This plot shows pooled effects, see the specific outcome analyses for individual outcomes. Analysis validating pooled outcomes for COVID-19 can be found below. Effect extraction is pre-specified, using the most serious outcome reported. For details see the appendix.
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Figure 4. Random effects meta-analysis for mortality results.
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Figure 5. Random effects meta-analysis for ventilation.
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Figure 6. Random effects meta-analysis for ICU admission.
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Figure 7. Random effects meta-analysis for hospitalization.
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Figure 8. Random effects meta-analysis for recovery.
Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs)
Currently all studies are RCTs.
Heterogeneity
Heterogeneity in COVID-19 studies arises from many factors including:
The time between infection or the onset of symptoms and treatment may critically affect how well a treatment works. For example an antiviral may be very effective when used early but may not be effective in late stage disease, and may even be harmful. Oseltamivir, for example, is generally only considered effective for influenza when used within 0-36 or 0-48 hours25,26. Baloxavir marboxil studies for influenza also show that treatment delay is critical — Ikematsu et al. report an 86% reduction in cases for post-exposure prophylaxis, Hayden et al. show a 33 hour reduction in the time to alleviation of symptoms for treatment within 24 hours and a reduction of 13 hours for treatment within 24-48 hours, and Kumar et al. report only 2.5 hours improvement for inpatient treatment.
Table 2. Studies of baloxavir marboxil for influenza show that early treatment is more effective.
Treatment delayResult
Post-exposure prophylaxis86% fewer cases27
<24 hours-33 hours symptoms28
24-48 hours-13 hours symptoms28
Inpatients-2.5 hours to improvement29
Figure 9 shows a mixed-effects meta-regression for efficacy as a function of treatment delay in COVID-19 studies from 109 treatments, showing that efficacy declines rapidly with treatment delay. Early treatment is critical for COVID-19.
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Figure 9. Early treatment is more effective. Meta-regression showing efficacy as a function of treatment delay in COVID-19 studies from 109 treatments.
Details of the patient population including age and comorbidities may critically affect how well a treatment works. For example, many COVID-19 studies with relatively young low-comorbidity patients show all patients recovering quickly with or without treatment. In such cases, there is little room for an effective treatment to improve results, for example as in López-Medina et al.
Efficacy may depend critically on the distribution of SARS-CoV-2 variants encountered by patients. Risk varies significantly across variants31, for example the Gamma variant shows significantly different characteristics32-35. Different mechanisms of action may be more or less effective depending on variants, for example the degree to which TMPRSS2 contributes to viral entry can differ across variants36,37.
Effectiveness may depend strongly on the dosage and treatment regimen.
The use of other treatments may significantly affect outcomes, including supplements, other medications, or other interventions such as prone positioning. Treatments may be synergistic38-49, therefore efficacy may depend strongly on combined treatments.
The quality of medications may vary significantly between manufacturers and production batches, which may significantly affect efficacy and safety. Williams et al. analyze ivermectin from 11 different sources, showing highly variable antiparasitic efficacy across different manufacturers. Xu et al. analyze a treatment from two different manufacturers, showing 9 different impurities, with significantly different concentrations for each manufacturer.
Across all studies there is a strong association between different outcomes, for example improved recovery is strongly associated with lower mortality. However, efficacy may differ depending on the effect measured, for example a treatment may be more effective against secondary complications and have minimal effect on viral clearance.
The distribution of studies will alter the outcome of a meta analysis. Consider a simplified example where everything is equal except for the treatment delay, and effectiveness decreases to zero or below with increasing delay. If there are many studies using very late treatment, the outcome may be negative, even though early treatment is very effective. All meta analyses combine heterogeneous studies, varying in population, variants, and potentially all factors above, and therefore may obscure efficacy by including studies where treatment is less effective. Generally, we expect the estimated effect size from meta analysis to be less than that for the optimal case. Looking at all studies is valuable for providing an overview of all research, important to avoid cherry-picking, and informative when a positive result is found despite combining less-optimal situations. However, the resulting estimate does not apply to specific cases such as early treatment in high-risk populations. While we present results for all studies, we also present treatment time and individual outcome analyses, which may be more informative for specific use cases.
Pooled Effects
For COVID-19, delay in clinical results translates into additional death and morbidity, as well as additional economic and societal damage. Combining the results of studies reporting different outcomes is required. There may be no mortality in a trial with low-risk patients, however a reduction in severity or improved viral clearance may translate into lower mortality in a high-risk population. Different studies may report lower severity, improved recovery, and lower mortality, and the significance may be very high when combining the results. "The studies reported different outcomes" is not a good reason for disregarding results.
We present both specific outcome and pooled analyses. In order to combine the results of studies reporting different outcomes we use the most serious outcome reported in each study, based on the thesis that improvement in the most serious outcome provides comparable measures of efficacy for a treatment. A critical advantage of this approach is simplicity and transparency. There are many other ways to combine evidence for different outcomes, along with additional evidence such as dose-response relationships, however these increase complexity.
Another way to view pooled analysis is that we are using more of the available information. Logically we should, and do, use additional information. For example dose-response and treatment delay-response relationships provide significant additional evidence of efficacy that is considered when reviewing the evidence for a treatment.
Trials with high-risk patients may be restricted due to ethics for treatments that are known or expected to be effective, and they increase difficulty for recruiting. Using less severe outcomes as a proxy for more serious outcomes allows faster collection of evidence.
For many COVID-19 treatments, a reduction in mortality logically follows from a reduction in hospitalization, which follows from a reduction in symptomatic cases, which follows from a reduction in PCR positivity. We can directly test this for COVID-19.
Analysis of the the association between different outcomes across studies from all 109 treatments we cover confirms the validity of pooled outcome analysis for COVID-19. Figure 10 shows that lower hospitalization is very strongly associated with lower mortality (p < 0.000000000001). Similarly, Figure 11 shows that improved recovery is very strongly associated with lower mortality (p < 0.000000000001). Considering the extremes, Singh et al. show an association between viral clearance and hospitalization or death, with p = 0.003 after excluding one large outlier from a mutagenic treatment, and based on 44 RCTs including 52,384 patients. Figure 12 shows that improved viral clearance is strongly associated with fewer serious outcomes. The association is very similar to Singh et al., with higher confidence due to the larger number of studies. As with Singh et al., the confidence increases when excluding the outlier treatment, from p = 0.00000042 to p = 0.00000002.
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Figure 10. Lower hospitalization is associated with lower mortality, supporting pooled outcome analysis.
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Figure 11. Improved recovery is associated with lower mortality, supporting pooled outcome analysis.
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Figure 10. Improved viral clearance is associated with fewer serious outcomes, supporting pooled outcome analysis.
Currently, 48 of the treatments we analyze show statistically significant efficacy or harm, defined as ≥10% decreased risk or >0% increased risk from ≥3 studies. 89% of these have been confirmed with one or more specific outcomes, with a mean delay of 5.1 months. When restricting to RCTs only, 56% of treatments showing statistically significant efficacy/harm with pooled effects have been confirmed with one or more specific outcomes, with a mean delay of 6.4 months. Figure 13 shows when treatments were found effective during the pandemic. Pooled outcomes often resulted in earlier detection of efficacy.
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Figure 13. The time when studies showed that treatments were effective, defined as statistically significant improvement of ≥10% from ≥3 studies. Pooled results typically show efficacy earlier than specific outcome results. Results from all studies often shows efficacy much earlier than when restricting to RCTs. Results reflect conditions as used in trials to date, these depend on the population treated, treatment delay, and treatment regimen.
Pooled analysis could hide efficacy, for example a treatment that is beneficial for late stage patients but has no effect on viral clearance may show no efficacy if most studies only examine viral clearance. In practice, it is rare for a non-antiviral treatment to report viral clearance and to not report clinical outcomes; and in practice other sources of heterogeneity such as difference in treatment delay is more likely to hide efficacy.
Analysis validates the use of pooled effects and shows significantly faster detection of efficacy on average. However, as with all meta analyses, it is important to review the different studies included. We also present individual outcome analyses, which may be more informative for specific use cases.
Publishing is often biased towards positive results, however evidence suggests that there may be a negative bias for inexpensive treatments for COVID-19. Both negative and positive results are very important for COVID-19, media in many countries prioritizes negative results for inexpensive treatments (inverting the typical incentive for scientists that value media recognition), and there are many reports of difficulty publishing positive results53-56. For propolis, there is currently not enough data to evaluate publication bias with high confidence.
Pharmaceutical drug trials often have conflicts of interest whereby sponsors or trial staff have a financial interest in the outcome being positive. Propolis for COVID-19 lacks this because it is off-patent, has multiple manufacturers, and is very low cost. In contrast, most COVID-19 propolis trials have been run by physicians on the front lines with the primary goal of finding the best methods to save human lives and minimize the collateral damage caused by COVID-19. While pharmaceutical companies are careful to run trials under optimal conditions (for example, restricting patients to those most likely to benefit, only including patients that can be treated soon after onset when necessary, and ensuring accurate dosing), not all propolis trials represent the optimal conditions for efficacy.
Summary statistics from meta analysis necessarily lose information. As with all meta analyses, studies are heterogeneous, with differences in treatment delay, treatment regimen, patient demographics, variants, conflicts of interest, standard of care, and other factors. We provide analyses for specific outcomes and by treatment delay, and we aim to identify key characteristics in the forest plots and summaries. Results should be viewed in the context of study characteristics.
Some analyses classify treatment based on early or late administration, as done here, while others distinguish between mild, moderate, and severe cases. Viral load does not indicate degree of symptoms — for example patients may have a high viral load while being asymptomatic. With regard to treatments that have antiviral properties, timing of treatment is critical — late administration may be less helpful regardless of severity.
Details of treatment delay per patient is often not available. For example, a study may treat 90% of patients relatively early, but the events driving the outcome may come from 10% of patients treated very late. Our 5 day cutoff for early treatment may be too conservative, 5 days may be too late in many cases.
Comparison across treatments is confounded by differences in the studies performed, for example dose, variants, and conflicts of interest. Trials with conflicts of interest may use designs better suited to the preferred outcome.
In some cases, the most serious outcome has very few events, resulting in lower confidence results being used in pooled analysis, however the method is simpler and more transparent. This is less critical as the number of studies increases. Restriction to outcomes with sufficient power may be beneficial in pooled analysis and improve accuracy when there are few studies, however we maintain our pre-specified method to avoid any retrospective changes.
Studies show that combinations of treatments can be highly synergistic and may result in many times greater efficacy than individual treatments alone38-49. Therefore standard of care may be critical and benefits may diminish or disappear if standard of care does not include certain treatments.
This real-time analysis is constantly updated based on submissions. Accuracy benefits from widespread review and submission of updates and corrections from reviewers. Less popular treatments may receive fewer reviews.
No treatment or intervention is 100% available and effective for all current and future variants. Efficacy may vary significantly with different variants and within different populations. All treatments have potential side effects. Propensity to experience side effects may be predicted in advance by qualified physicians. We do not provide medical advice. Before taking any medication, consult a qualified physician who can compare all options, provide personalized advice, and provide details of risks and benefits based on individual medical history and situations.
1 of 3 studies combine treatments. The results of propolis alone may differ. 1 of 3 RCTs use combined treatment. Currently all studies are peer-reviewed.
Multiple reviews cover propolis for COVID-19, presenting additional background on mechanisms and related results, including57-61.
SARS-CoV-2 infection and replication involves a complex interplay of 50+ host and viral proteins and other factors15-20, providing many therapeutic targets. Over 8,000 compounds have been predicted to reduce COVID-19 risk21, either by directly minimizing infection or replication, by supporting immune system function, or by minimizing secondary complications. Figure 14 shows an overview of the results for propolis in the context of multiple COVID-19 treatments, and Figure 15 shows a plot of efficacy vs. cost for COVID-19 treatments.
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Figure 14. Scatter plot showing results within the context of multiple COVID-19 treatments. Diamonds shows the results of random effects meta-analysis. 0.6% of 8,000+ proposed treatments show efficacy62.
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Figure 15. Efficacy vs. cost for COVID-19 treatments.
Statistically significant lower risk is seen for hospitalization and recovery. 3 studies from 2 independent teams in 2 countries show significant improvements. Meta analysis using the most serious outcome reported shows 41% [-13‑69%] lower risk, without reaching statistical significance. Currently all studies are RCTs.
Currently there is limited data, with only 410 patients and only 23 control events for the most serious outcome in trials to date. Studies to date are from only 2 different groups.
Mortality 86% Improvement Relative Risk ICU admission 86% Recovery 64% Propolis  Kosari et al.  LATE TREATMENT  DB RCT Is late treatment with propolis + Hyoscyamus niger L. beneficial for COVID-19? Double-blind RCT 140 patients in Iran Improved recovery with propolis + Hyoscyamus niger L. (p=0.0068) c19early.org Kosari et al., Phytotherapy Research, Nov 2023 Favorspropolis Favorscontrol 0 0.5 1 1.5 2+
Kosari: RCT 140 patients showing lower progression and improved recovery with propolis plus Hyoscyamus niger L.syrup.
Ventilation 22% Improvement Relative Risk ICU admission 11% Hospitalization time 16% Secondary infection 68% AKI 25% Propolis  BeeCovid2  LATE TREATMENT  DB RCT Is late treatment with propolis beneficial for COVID-19? Double-blind RCT 188 patients in Brazil (April - August 2021) Lower ventilation (p=0.54) and shorter hospitalization (p=0.19), not sig. c19early.org Silveira et al., Scientific Reports, Oct 2023 Favorspropolis Favorscontrol 0 0.5 1 1.5 2+
Silveira: RCT 188 patients in Brazil, showing shorter hospitalization and improved outcomes with propolis, but without statistical significance. The incidence of secondary infections was significantly lower in the treatment group.
Ventilation, 800mg/day 62% Improvement Relative Risk Ventilation, 400mg/day 73% ICU admission, 800mg/day 24% ICU admission, 400mg/day 93% Hospitalization time, 8.. 35% Hospitalization time, 4.. 25% Propolis  BeeCovid  LATE TREATMENT  RCT Is late treatment with propolis beneficial for COVID-19? RCT 84 patients in Brazil Shorter hospitalization with propolis (p=0.0015) c19early.org Silveira et al., Biomedicine & Pharmac.., Jun 2021 Favorspropolis Favorscontrol 0 0.5 1 1.5 2+
Silveira (B): RCT 124 hospitalized COVID-19 patients in Brazil. The treatment groups received standardized green propolis extract (EPP-AF) at doses of 400mg/day or 800mg/day for 7 days, in addition to standard care. The EPP-AF groups had significantly shorter hospital stays post-intervention. The high dose EPP-AF group also had lower rates of acute kidney injury. No significant differences were seen for other outcomes like oxygen therapy duration or need for mechanical ventilation. The propolis adjunct treatment appeared safe with no discontinuations due to side effects.
We perform ongoing searches of PubMed, medRxiv, Europe PMC, ClinicalTrials.gov, The Cochrane Library, Google Scholar, Research Square, ScienceDirect, Oxford University Press, the reference lists of other studies and meta-analyses, and submissions to the site c19early.org. Search terms are propolis and COVID-19 or SARS-CoV-2. Automated searches are performed twice daily, with all matches reviewed for inclusion. All studies regarding the use of propolis for COVID-19 that report a comparison with a control group are included in the main analysis. This is a living analysis and is updated regularly.
We extracted effect sizes and associated data from all studies. If studies report multiple kinds of effects then the most serious outcome is used in pooled analysis, while other outcomes are included in the outcome specific analyses. For example, if effects for mortality and cases are both reported, the effect for mortality is used, this may be different to the effect that a study focused on. If symptomatic results are reported at multiple times, we used the latest time, for example if mortality results are provided at 14 days and 28 days, the results at 28 days have preference. Mortality alone is preferred over combined outcomes. Outcomes with zero events in both arms are not used, the next most serious outcome with one or more events is used. For example, in low-risk populations with no mortality, a reduction in mortality with treatment is not possible, however a reduction in hospitalization, for example, is still valuable. Clinical outcomes are considered more important than viral test status. When basically all patients recover in both treatment and control groups, preference for viral clearance and recovery is given to results mid-recovery where available. After most or all patients have recovered there is little or no room for an effective treatment to do better, however faster recovery is valuable. If only individual symptom data is available, the most serious symptom has priority, for example difficulty breathing or low SpO2 is more important than cough. When results provide an odds ratio, we compute the relative risk when possible, or convert to a relative risk according to66. Reported confidence intervals and p-values were used when available, using adjusted values when provided. If multiple types of adjustments are reported propensity score matching and multivariable regression has preference over propensity score matching or weighting, which has preference over multivariable regression. Adjusted results have preference over unadjusted results for a more serious outcome when the adjustments significantly alter results. When needed, conversion between reported p-values and confidence intervals followed Altman, Altman (B), and Fisher's exact test was used to calculate p-values for event data. If continuity correction for zero values is required, we use the reciprocal of the opposite arm with the sum of the correction factors equal to 169. Results are expressed with RR < 1.0 favoring treatment, and using the risk of a negative outcome when applicable (for example, the risk of death rather than the risk of survival). If studies only report relative continuous values such as relative times, the ratio of the time for the treatment group versus the time for the control group is used. Calculations are done in Python (3.13.0) with scipy (1.14.1), pythonmeta (1.26), numpy (1.26.4), statsmodels (0.14.4), and plotly (5.24.1).
Forest plots are computed using PythonMeta70 with the DerSimonian and Laird random effects model (the fixed effect assumption is not plausible in this case) and inverse variance weighting. Results are presented with 95% confidence intervals. Heterogeneity among studies was assessed using the I2 statistic. Mixed-effects meta-regression results are computed with R (4.4.0) using the metafor (4.6-0) and rms (6.8-0) packages, and using the most serious sufficiently powered outcome. For all statistical tests, a p-value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Grobid 0.8.0 is used to parse PDF documents.
We have classified studies as early treatment if most patients are not already at a severe stage at the time of treatment (for example based on oxygen status or lung involvement), and treatment started within 5 days of the onset of symptoms. If studies contain a mix of early treatment and late treatment patients, we consider the treatment time of patients contributing most to the events (for example, consider a study where most patients are treated early but late treatment patients are included, and all mortality events were observed with late treatment patients). We note that a shorter time may be preferable. Antivirals are typically only considered effective when used within a shorter timeframe, for example 0-36 or 0-48 hours for oseltamivir, with longer delays not being effective25,26.
We received no funding, this research is done in our spare time. We have no affiliations with any pharmaceutical companies or political parties.
A summary of study results is below. Please submit updates and corrections at the bottom of this page.
A summary of study results is below. Please submit updates and corrections at https://c19early.org/ppmeta.html.
Effect extraction follows pre-specified rules as detailed above and gives priority to more serious outcomes. For pooled analyses, the first (most serious) outcome is used, which may differ from the effect a paper focuses on. Other outcomes are used in outcome specific analyses.
Kosari, 11/22/2023, Double Blind Randomized Controlled Trial, placebo-controlled, Iran, peer-reviewed, 15 authors, this trial uses multiple treatments in the treatment arm (combined with Hyoscyamus niger L.) - results of individual treatments may vary, trial IRCT20200516047462N1. risk of death, 85.7% lower, RR 0.14, p = 0.24, treatment 0 of 70 (0.0%), control 3 of 70 (4.3%), NNT 23, relative risk is not 0 because of continuity correction due to zero events (with reciprocal of the contrasting arm), day 6.
risk of ICU admission, 85.7% lower, RR 0.14, p = 0.06, treatment 1 of 70 (1.4%), control 7 of 70 (10.0%), NNT 12.
risk of no recovery, 63.6% lower, RR 0.36, p = 0.007, treatment 8 of 70 (11.4%), control 22 of 70 (31.4%), NNT 5.0, day 6.
Silveira, 10/27/2023, Double Blind Randomized Controlled Trial, placebo-controlled, Brazil, peer-reviewed, 24 authors, study period April 2021 - August 2021, trial NCT04800224 (history) (BeeCovid2). risk of mechanical ventilation, 22.4% lower, RR 0.78, p = 0.54, treatment 10 of 98 (10.2%), control 12 of 90 (13.3%), NNT 32, adjusted per study, odds ratio converted to relative risk.
risk of ICU admission, 11.4% lower, RR 0.89, p = 0.65, treatment 23 of 97 (23.7%), control 24 of 89 (27.0%), NNT 31, adjusted per study, odds ratio converted to relative risk.
hospitalization time, 16.1% lower, relative time 0.84, p = 0.19, treatment mean 6.48 (±5.99) n=98, control mean 7.72 (±7.06) n=90.
secondary infection, 67.6% lower, RR 0.32, p = 0.02, treatment 6 of 98 (6.1%), control 17 of 90 (18.9%), NNT 7.8, adjusted per study, odds ratio converted to relative risk.
AKI, 25.1% lower, RR 0.75, p = 0.41, treatment 13 of 98 (13.3%), control 16 of 90 (17.8%), NNT 22, adjusted per study, odds ratio converted to relative risk.
Silveira (B), 6/30/2021, Randomized Controlled Trial, Brazil, peer-reviewed, 25 authors, trial NCT04480593 (history) (BeeCovid). risk of mechanical ventilation, 62.5% lower, RR 0.37, p = 0.19, treatment 3 of 41 (7.3%), control 8 of 41 (19.5%), NNT 8.2, 800mg/day.
risk of mechanical ventilation, 73.0% lower, RR 0.27, p = 0.09, treatment 2 of 38 (5.3%), control 8 of 41 (19.5%), NNT 7.0, 400mg/day.
risk of ICU admission, 23.6% lower, RR 0.76, p = 0.73, treatment 5 of 24 (20.8%), control 6 of 22 (27.3%), NNT 16, 800mg/day.
risk of ICU admission, 93.0% lower, RR 0.07, p = 0.005, treatment 0 of 27 (0.0%), control 6 of 22 (27.3%), NNT 3.7, relative risk is not 0 because of continuity correction due to zero events (with reciprocal of the contrasting arm), 400mg/day.
hospitalization time, 34.9% lower, relative time 0.65, p = 0.001, treatment mean 8.2 (±5.62) n=42, control mean 12.6 (±6.61) n=42, 800mg/day.
hospitalization time, 24.6% lower, relative time 0.75, p = 0.049, treatment mean 9.5 (±7.42) n=40, control mean 12.6 (±6.61) n=42, 400mg/day.
Please send us corrections, updates, or comments. c19early involves the extraction of 100,000+ datapoints from thousands of papers. Community updates help ensure high accuracy. Treatments and other interventions are complementary. All practical, effective, and safe means should be used based on risk/benefit analysis. No treatment or intervention is 100% available and effective for all current 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. FLCCC and WCH provide treatment protocols.
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