Efficacy of complementary ozone therapy combined with standard treatment on mortality outcomes in COVID-19 patients

Abstract

Background. The COVID-19 pandemic posed significant challenges to healthcare systems worldwide, emphasizing the urgent need for effective adjuvant therapies to reduce mortality. Ozone therapy, with its immunoregulatory properties and antiviral effects, has demonstrated promising benefits in treating the disease. Objective(s). Evaluation of the impact of integrating ozone therapy into the standard treatment protocol for COVID-19 patients, with a focus on mortality reduction and improvement of clinical parameters. Materials and methods. A systematic review of the literature (PubMed, Google Scholar) was conducted, including recent randomized clinical trials, observational studies, and metaanalyses on the effectiveness of ozone therapy as an adjunct treatment for COVID-19. One study in 55 patients showed significant benefits on mortality and clinical status. Results. The ozone therapy group showed a significantly lower mortality rate compared to the control group (p=0.032). Additionally, there was a trend toward a reduced need for intensive care, although this difference was not statistically significant (p=0.713). Univariate analysis identified ozone therapy as a protective factor against death (OR=0.149; 95% CI: 0.026–0.863; p=0.034). A meta-analysis by Zhang et al. (2022), including 8 randomized controlled trials with 371 patients, demonstrated that ozone therapy significantly reduces mortality (RR 0.38; p=0.02), hospital stay duration (WMD -1.63 days; p=0.02), and PCR positivity (RR 0.07; p=0.001). Conclusion(s). Ozone therapy, as a complementary treatment, reduces mortality and improves clinical outcomes in COVID-19 patients through immunomodulatory and antiinflammatory effects. Further rigorous studies with larger patient groups are needed for widespread adoption and protocol standardization.