Intravenous Vitamin C for COVID-19
In a study conducted from February 14 to March 29, 2020, 56 Chinese patients (mean age, 67 years) who were transferred to the intensive care unit because of severe acute respiratory syndrome secondary to COVID-19 were randomly assigned to receive, in double-blind fashion, intravenous vitamin C or placebo. The dosage of vitamin C was 12 g every 12 hours for 7 days. Each infusion was given over a four-hour period. The vitamin C group showed a steady improvement in the oxygen saturation of arterial blood, whereas no improvement in oxygen saturation was seen in the placebo group. In subgroup analysis of the 44 patients who were the sickest at baseline (defined as a Sequential Organ Failure Assessment [SOFA] score of 3 or higher), the mortality rate was 21.7% in the vitamin C group and 47.6% in the placebo group, a difference that was of borderline statistical significance (p = 0.07).









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