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Jack M. Gwaltney, Joseph Park, Richard A. Paul, David A. Edelman, Robert R. O'Connor, Ronald B. Turner, Randomized Controlled Trial of Clemastine Fumarate for Treatment of Experimental Rhinovirus Colds, Clinical Infectious Diseases, Volume 22, Issue 4, April 1996, Pages 656–662, https://doi.org/10.1093/clinids/22.4.656
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Abstract
We used a rhinovirus challenge model to test the therapeutic efficacy of clemastine fumarate for reducing sneezing and nasal secretion in a double-blind, randomized clinical trial. Clemastine fumarate (1.34 mg) or placebo was administered at 8 A.M. and 8 P.M. for 4 days, beginning 24 hours, 36 hours, 48 hours, and 60 hours after viral challenge. Infected evaluable subjects who received clemastine (n = 75) had reduced sneeze-severity scores compared with those who received placebo (n = 75) on illness days 2 (0.3 vs. 0.5; P = .003), 3 (0.4 vs. 0.8; P = .0003),4 (0.3 vs. 0.5; P = .025), and 5 (0.1 vs. 0.3; P = .03); sneeze counts for infected evaluable subjects (vs. counts for those who received placebo) were reduced on illness days 2 (1.5 vs. 3.1; P = .01), 3 (1.7 vs. 5.6; P = .0001), and 5 (0.7 vs. 1.9; P = .03). Infected evaluable subjects who received treatment had reduced rhinorrhea scores (compared with those who received placebo) on illness days 2 (0.7 vs. 1.0; P = .04) and 3 (0.6 vs. 0.9; P = .04) and had reduced nasal secretion weights on day 3 (3.6 g vs. 6.3 g; P = .03). Over 4 days of treatment, mean sneeze scores for infected evaluable subjects (vs. scores for those who received placebo) were reduced by 50%, mean sneeze counts by 57%, mean rhinorrhea scores by 27%, and mean nasal secretion weights by 35%. Other cold symptoms were unaffected by treatment. Treatment with clemastine was associated with an excess incidence of dry mouth (6%), dry nose (19%), and dry throat (17%).
