SALT LAKE CITY-Per a Wednesday announcement, researchers from Intermountain Health Care and University of Utah Health in Salt Lake City have launched two vital, clinical trials to test the effectivenes and safety of hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin to treat patients with COVID-19.

Researchers from these two health systems plan to enroll nearly 2,300 patients who are COVID-19 positive or suspected of being positive for the virus.

Hydroxychloroquine is an anti-malarial drug typically used to treat some autoimmune diseases and azithromycin, an antibiotic typically used for sinusitis or pneumonia, have been suggested as possible treatments for this disease.

It is unknown if this really assists in combating COVID-19, however.

The drugs can also cause significant side-effects. In certain cases, hydroxychloroquine has increased the levels of a different virus present in the blood, or caused problems with heart rhythm.

However, a surge in interest in hydroxychloroquine has left patients taking the drug to manage ongoing chronic illnesses at the risk of losing access to their regular course of treatment.

In the first trial, patients hospitalized with suspected or confirmed cases of COVID-19 will be given either hydroxychloroquine or azithromycin to determine whether either drug affects the severity of the disease and saves lives.

Researchers are planning to enroll 300 patients in this clinical trial from across all Intermountain Healthcare hospitals and University of Utah health hospitals that are treating COVID-19 patients.

The second set of trials will see patients with a confirmed case of COVID-19 being treated as outpatients given hydroxychloroquine or azithromycin to determine if either drug can prevent hospitalization.

These trials will also determine whether hydroxychloroquine impacts viral shedding and prevents infection of household contacts as compared to placebo.

For these outpatient trials, researchers will enroll 2,000 patients across Utah from all Intermountain Healthcare and University of Utah Health system hospitals  that are treating COVID-19 patients.

Patients will receive treatment and be monitored via telehealth.

Researchers acknowledge clinicians may feel pressure to use hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19 patients outside of a clinical trial.