Value of montelukast as a potential treatment of post-COVID-19 persistent cough: a non-randomized controlled pilot study

Abstract

Abstract Background This pilot study included 68 cases with post-COVID-19 persistent cough (> 8 weeks), randomly allocated into two groups; intervention group (32 patients) received standard cough therapy, and montelukast 10 mg/day for 14 days and control group (36 patients) received only cough sedatives. Results We found a significant improvement in the number of cough paroxysms/day, cough severity visual analog scale, cough severity index and cough quality of life, shorter duration improvement, and minimal side effects in the interventional group. Conclusions We suggest that montelukast may be effective to reduce the duration and severity of the persistent post-COVID-19 cough and further improve quality of life.