An Epidemiological Study on the Effectiveness of Nasturtium Herb and Horseradish Root (Angocin®Anti-Infekt N) as well as Other Phytopharmaceuticals, Synthetic Products, and Antibiotics on the Course of Acute Upper Respiratory Tract Infection (aURTI).

Background

The goal of this study was to evaluate whether medical recommendation of Angocin®Anti-Infekt N (hereafter referred to as Angocin®) on the day of diagnosis of an acute upper respiratory tract infection (aURTI) or acute sinusitis (AS) is negatively associated with a recurrence of these diagnoses, incidence of antibiotic prescriptions, incidence of chronic sinusitis, nasal polyps, or sick leave duration.

Methods

This retrospective cohort study utilized the IQVIATM Disease Analyzer database and included patients by general practitioners with at least one diagnosis of aURTI or AS from 2005 to 2024 and a prescription of Angocin®, nasal medications (xylometazoline, oxymetazoline) and mucolytics (ambroxol or acetylcysteine), other phytopharmaceutical drugs, or antibiotics on the day of diagnosis. Patients who received Angocin® were matched separately to each of the three comparison cohorts in a 1:5 ratio using a nearest-neighbor propensity score approach. The relationship between Angocin® prescription and the risks of a recurrence, subsequent antibiotic use or progression to chronic disease was then estimated with Cox proportional hazard models. To examine whether Angocin® exposure was associated with the length of sick leave, univariable conditional logistic regression was applied.

Results

A total of 3501 Angocin® patients and 17,505 patients in each further cohort were investigated. Angocin® prescription was associated with a significantly lower incidence of a newly diagnosed aURTI/AS as compared to other phytopharmaceuticals (Hazard ratio (HR): 0.78; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.68-0.86), nasal medications and mucolytics (HR: 0.79; 95% CI: 0.71-0.88), or antibiotics (HR: 0.85; 95% CI: 0.77-0.95). In addition, there was a significantly lower incidence of subsequent further prescriptions of antibiotics when compared to other phytopharmaceuticals (HR: 0.92; 95% CI: 0.82-0.99), nasal medications and mucolytics (HR: 0.87 (95%; CI: 0.80-0.95), or antibiotics (HR: 0.62; 95% CI: 0.57-0.67). Furthermore, Angocin® was associated with the most advantageous pattern of work absence across all time periods examined.

Conclusions

Considering the limitations of the study, the results cast a positive light on Angocin® prescription in the management of aURTI/AS, particularly with regard to recurrence rates, subsequent antibiotic prescriptions, and sick leave duration.