Combining hydroxychloroquine and minocycline: potential role in moderate to severe COVID-19 infection.

Combining HCQ and minocycline offers many advantages in the management of moderate to severe COVID-19 infection. Both drugs are cheaper, widely available and long-term safety data and contraindications are well known. We do not recommend this combination for prophylaxis or use in asymptomatic or mild disease patients as this can lead to unnecessary safety concerns. Additive antimicrobial and anticytokine effects of both drugs may reduce the morbidity and mortality among patients with COVID-19 and may act as a cheaper alternative to the costlier drugs, however, thorough clinical research is warranted. We call upon public and private healthcare bodies to come up with large well-designed clinical studies for generating evidence-based recommendations.