96.5 The curious case of Zithromax and viral respiratory infections

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">When you have a patient who requests a Z-pack for what is almost certainly an acute viral respiratory infection, you probably respond internally or externally (possibly both) that antibiotics do not treat viruses. But could there be some effect on their symptoms, or the viral infection itself, that is not part of the common discussion when it comes to such things? We know that azithromycin is an antibiotic, but it turns out that azithromycin actually has some activity in the viral arena. This absolutely shocked me. The question is, does it matter? </span></p> <p><strong>Interested in one-on-one coaching? Learn more at</strong> <a href= "https://roborman.com"><strong>roborman.com</strong></a></p> <p><strong>To support the show - visit</strong> <a href= "https://www.patreon.com/stimuluspod"><strong>our Patreon site</strong></a> <strong>and help keep the wind in the sails. </strong></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><strong>For our full catalog of shows with complete show notes, visit</strong> <a href= "https://roborman.com/category/stimulus/"><strong>our podcast page</strong></a></span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">To wit…</span></p> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">In vitro studies show azithromycin reduces rhinovirus replication and release. </span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Another in vitro study on respiratory cells from lung transplant patients found azithromycin reduces rhinovirus-associated cellular inflammation.</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Kids with coronavirus (the pre-COVID, old-school coronavirus)  had reduced viral load with azithromycin. </span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">In enterovirus-infected mice, azithromycin improved survival. </span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Patients i