Iran study: Bromhexine is effective in treating covid

Publisher : China Science News 

Ref : http://news.sciencenet.cn/htmlnews/2020/8/444094.shtm

Translation, editing  : Gan Yung Chyan, KUCINTA SETIA

Image courtesy : MOH

Recently, a study led by Imam Reza Hospital in Tabriz, Iran, confirmed the effectiveness of bromhexine in the treatment of covid. The related paper "Effect of bromhexine on clinical outcomes and mortality in COVID-19 patients: A randomized clinical trial" is  published in the journal BioImpacts.

The results of the Iran study show that early oral bromhexine can reduce the ICU transfer rate, intubation and mechanical ventilation rate and mortality of patients with covid. In the trial, no patients died in the bromhexine hydrochloride treatment group. Only 2 patients were transferred to ICU, and only 1 patient received intubation/mechanical ventilation, while 5 patients in the standard group died and 11 patients were transferred to the ICU, and 9 patients received intubation/mechanical ventilation. Overall, the ICU transfer rate in the treatment group was reduced by 82% compared with the standard group, the intubation/mechanical ventilation rate was reduced by 89%, and the mortality rate was reduced by 100%.

In addition, bromhexine can effectively improve the main clinical symptoms of covid patients. Compared with the standard treatment group, the incidence of fever symptoms in the bromhexine hydrochloride treatment group was reduced by 100%, the incidence of dyspnea was reduced by 93%, the incidence of cough was reduced by 83%, and the incidence of fatigue symptoms was reduced by 80%.

In addition, bromhexine can also reduce the inflammatory factors CRP (C reactive protein), LDH (lactate dehydrogenase), NLR (neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio), etc. in patients with covid, and no adverse reactions occurred during the entire test.

As a phlegm and expectorant, bromhexine is clinically mainly used in the treatments of acute and chronic bronchitis, asthma, bronchiectasis, emphysema, and is especially suitable for severely-ill patients who have difficulty spiting white phlegm, patients under critical emergency condition as a result of extensive obstruction of small bronchial tubes by sputum and so on.

Related paper information: https://doi.org/10.34172/bi.2020.27