Table 1: Potentially useful drugs for the early treatment of COVID-19 in general medicine and which are being prescribed in their authorized indications during the outbreak of COVID-19.
Potentially useful drugs for COVID-19 | Illnesses or symptoms for which drugs potentially useful for COVID-19 are currently prescribed | Estimate of prevalence of diseases in general medicine office for which drugs potentially useful for COVID-19 are being prescribed | Estimated number of patients with health problems in a general medicine office with a list of 2,000 patients | Ease of conducting retrospective studies of drug exposure and COVID-19 results in general medicine |
Azithromycin | Various bacterial infections | 5-10% | 100 | Relatively frequent use. Relatively wide sample |
Alpha1 antagonists | Arterial hypertension, benign prostatic hypertrophy | 20% (hypertension) 80% of those over 50 years (benign prostatic hypertrophy) | 400 (hypertension) 80 (benign prostatic hypertrophy) | Frequent use. Large sample |
Tocilizumab | Various types of arthritis | 0.5% rheumatoid arthritis | 10 | Infrequent use. Small sample |
Statins | Dyslipidemia | 30-50% | 800 | Very frequent use. Very large sample |
Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors | Depression / anxiety | 5-20% | 200 | Very frequent use. Large sample |
Antipsychotic | Psychosis | 1% | 20 | Infrequent use. Small sample |
Progesterone | Different obstetric gynecological conditions | 20% of women | 200 | Infrequent use. Small sample |
Vitamin D or calcifediol (25OHD) | Risk factor for various chronic diseases | 50% | 1000 | Relatively frequent use. Moderately large sample |
Vitamin C | Malnutrition | 12% in elderly, indigent, alcoholic and malnourished | 10 | Very infrequent use. Very small sample |
Colchicine | Rheumatological and cardiac conditions | 5-7% of patients with hyperuricemia | 100 | Infrequent use. Small sample |
ACE inhibitors and AT1 receptor antagonists | Hypertension, heart failure | 20 hypertension; 10% of heart failure in those over 70 years | 400 (hypertension); 10 heart failure | Frequent use. Large sample |
Ivermectine | Several tropical diseases | - | - | Use in tropical areas only |
Beta-blockers | Heart problems and high blood pressure | Up to 20% | 200 | Relatively frequent use. Relatively large sample |
Antihistamines | Allergies, cough of various causes | 20% allergies; 9% to 33% cough | 400 allergies; 200 cough | Frequent use. Large sample |