STAFF REPORTS

An NYU study that involved 100 mg of zinc sulfate added to hydroxychloroquine, shows that people given that combo, with azithromycin, are 45 percent less likely to die from Covid-19, 46 percent less likely to be transferred to intensive care, and 38 percent likely to be put on a ventilator. But once a patient is transferred to intensive care, the odds of survival go way down even with the HCQ cocktail.

Read all about it.

Spectrum's 24-hour New York City cable channel, NY-1, has been one of the few outlets following hydroxychloroquine (two articles so far on the Langone trials). And more studies will be coming out of NYU — including double-blind and randomized, as well as the University of South Dakota, and Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles.

The New York study looked at the records of 932 patients. Though not yet peer reviewed, it is at the same level as the VA hospital study released with great fanfare on April 21, showing the drug was ineffective and may even cause harm in already critical patients.

Both the VA and NYU studies were retrospective and observational, meaning they both reviewed medical records after patients were treated. The one difference? This study got almost no coverage. It was published six days ago, and the article came out two days ago at NY-1. Also, Barron’s ran an article on May 11.

Once a patient gets to ICU, however, zinc appears to lose effectiveness, at least from this study. "Zinc may have a role in preventing the virus from progressing to severe disease, but once the aberrant production of systemic immune mediators is initiated, known as the cytokine storm, the addition of zinc may no longer be effective,” wrote the authors. “Our findings suggest a potential therapeutic synergistic mechanism of zinc sulfate with hydroxychloroquine, if used early on in presentation with COVID-19.”

Read the full study here.