Vijayawada: Amid a fresh uptick in Covid-19 cases in Andhra Pradesh, an internationally published study by Kakinada-based infectious diseases specialist and research scientist Dr Yanamadala Muralikrishna has renewed focus on an early home-based treatment protocol that significantly reduced hospitalisations during the devastating Delta wave of 2021.
Published in the May-August 2026 issue of the Journal of Primary Care Specialties, the study found that the hospitalisation rate among mild Covid-19 patients dropped from 13.3% to 1.7% under the protocol. Patients also recovered faster and reported significantly fewer long-Covid symptoms.
The research, conducted at Lakshmi Vaidyasala in Kakinada, evaluated a treatment approach targeting three key Covid-19-related complications: excessive inflammation, hypercoagulability and secondary bacterial infection. The regimen combined Aspirin, Prednisolone and Azithromycin.
The protocol was first shared by Dr Muralikrishna on social media in April 2021, when the Delta variant had overwhelmed hospitals and oxygen shortages forced many patients to recover at home.
The study assessed outcomes in 120 patients. Of these, 60 received the standard state-supplied treatment kit comprising Doxycycline, Ivermectin and Paracetamol, while the remaining 60 were treated using Dr Muralikrishna’s protocol. Only one patient (1.7%) in the specialised-treatment group required hospitalisation, compared with eight patients (13.3%) in the standard-treatment group. The study also recorded lower rates of persistent fatigue, dry cough and other post-Covid complications among patients receiving the specialised regimen.
“The Delta wave presented an unprecedented challenge, with patients unable to access hospital beds or oxygen despite needing timely care. We developed a treatment approach aimed at interrupting the disease process early by targeting inflammation, abnormal clotting and secondary infection,” Dr Muralikrishna told TOI.
He said the findings have gained renewed relevance as Covid-19 cases are once again being reported across the state. “Although the circulating variants today differ from those during the Delta wave, the fundamental principles remain unchanged. Early diagnosis, appropriate medical supervision and timely evidence-based treatment remain the best safeguards against severe disease,” he said.
Medical experts said the findings could help strengthen primary healthcare responses during future infectious-disease outbreaks by demonstrating how early targeted intervention can reduce pressure on hospitals while improving patient outcomes.
Dr Muralikrishna has continued his research in infectious diseases and recently published another paper in an international journal documenting innovative approaches developed over 25 years in HIV/AIDS care.
