On January 9, 2020, a new emerging virus was identified by WHO as being responsible for
grouped cases of pneumonia in China. It is a coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, responsible for the
disease COVID-19 (Coronavirus disease). The disease is mild in 85% of cases but the
proportion of serious cases requiring hospitalization or intensive care (15%) puts stress on
health structures and systems around the world.
To limit the influx of patients and avoid overstretching Health systems, containment and
social distancing strategies are widely adopted.
It appears crucial to propose the easiest possible therapeutic strategy taking into account
the ambulatory nature of the patients. Therefore azithromycin (AZM) is an antibiotic known to
have an antiviral effect but also which has anti-inflammatory activity in addition to its
antimicrobial effect. Azithromycin targets preferentially pulmonary cells (and particularly
of the lines apparently affected in COVID-19 positive cases). The aim of this study is to
demonstrate that AZM decreases symptom duration in COVID19 patients and diminishes the viral
carriage.