Contents
Clinical trials of hydroxychloroquine – a potential COVID-19 drug – have been temporarily halted by the World Health Organization (WHO), which expresses concern over reports of side effects of the therapy. It is hydroxychloroquine that has recently been promoted by Donald Trump. The drug is used in patients infected with the coronavirus also in Poland.
Hydroxychloroquine under the WHO magnifying glass
World Health ORganisation temporarily suspended research into hydroxychloroquine as a potential COVID-19 drug for safety reasons WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a conference in Geneva on Monday. The decision was made after a publication appeared in the medical journal “The Lancet”, in which the conclusions of the observation of patients treated with hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine were described. The authors reported that higher mortality was noted among those receiving hydroxychloroquine, whether combined with other medications or not.
Currently, a special group established by the WHO, made up of representatives of ten countries, is analyzing the results of the use of hydroxychloroquine in the treatment of COVID-19. The antimalarial drug administration to coronavirus-infected patients is to be suspended pending completion of their work. The enrollment of patients for hydroxychloroquine treatment in 400 medical facilities in 35 countries has been suspended. However, as the head of WHO emphasized, these drugs are generally recognized as safe for use in patients with autoimmune diseases or malaria.
Popularity of hydroxychloroquine in the USA
Hydroxychloroquine – a derivative of chloroquine, the active substance of Plaquenil – has been used on a large scale especially in the United States. Earlier last week, Donald Trump announced that he was taking a daily dose of this drug for prophylactic purposes, although all international agencies, including the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), warned against self-medicating – due to side effects. It is especially about cardiac complications (Heart arythmia).
- Read also: Due to the coronavirus, Arechin was not available in Polish pharmacies. Patients could not buy the drug
Letdown. Research by prof. Raoult
High hopes were placed on hydroxychloroquine after the publications of Chinese and then French scientists. The greatest advocate of the use of hydroxychloroquine – prof. Didier Raoult IHU Méditerranée Infection in Marseille – is a controversial figure to say the least. Many scientists question the credibility of his research due to numerous limitations, such as a very small research group and the lack of a control group. Prof. Raoult, despite the allegations, maintains that 83 percent. his patients after 7 days of therapy hydroxychloroquine in combination with azithromycin (and in 93% of patients after 8 days), the swabs showed no virus. He managed to convince thousands of people to use this method, including the President of the United States. Research on hydroxychloroquine following the reports of prof. Raoult were intensified, it was allowed to use it in clinical trials.
- Read more: Antimalarial drug to treat COVID-19? French scientists are looking for answers
Doubts of doctors. PTEiLChZ comment
Meanwhile, Maurizio Guastalegname and Alfredo Vallone from the infectious diseases ward of the G. Jazzolino Hospital in Vibo Valentia, Italy, in March in a letter to the editorial office of the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases, pointed out that chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine have been approved for the treatment of coronavirus diseases in humans without clear evidence that they workon the basis of in vitro non-specific antiviral activity (i.e. in cell culture), long experience with other indications (e.g. in malaria patients) and the hypothesis that it exhibits immunomodulatory activity (inhibits the production of proinflammatory cytokines). and thus reduces the effect of a “cytokine storm” in the course of the infection).
The World Health Organization has recently reiterated the lack of a scientific basis for chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine to be drugs for COVID-19. WHO expert Dr. Mike Ryan said: “I would like to point out that at this stage neither hydroxychloroquine nor chloroquine have been successful in treating or preventing COVID-19.”
Hydroxychloroquine, along with chloroquine, remdesivir and tocilizumab, is included in the proposed basic treatment of COVID-19 patients, prepared by the Polish Society of Epidemiologists and Doctors of Infectious Diseases. Last week, after Dr. Ryan’s speech, we asked the president of the association, prof. Robert Flisiak for a comment on the position of WHO. We received the following explanation:
This information adds nothing new. Personally, I have repeatedly said in the same vein that there is no scientifically strong evidence for the efficacy of chloroquine and hydrochloroquine, like all the drugs currently used for COVID-19. Due to the lack of conclusive data, we rely on case reports or on small studies conducted without a control group that showed potential effectiveness. All the more, there is no evidence that the prophylactic use of hydrochloroquine is effective. However, in the case of both of these drugs, WHO representatives did not oppose their use. And WHO, to my knowledge, still promotes research programs with their application [ATTENTION! the statement comes from before the WHO suspended the research – ed. ed.]
Prof. Flisiak also added:
The recommendations of PTEiLChZ were developed in a specific time and based on specific knowledge. From the beginning, we assumed that they would evolve, and therefore the name of the recommendation includes the date (March 31, 03). While working on the next version of the recommendation, we will certainly take into account the results of Polish research, such as the TOC-study, the results of which have already been sent for publication, and the larger SARSTer project, currently under development, carried out in infectious disease clinics and departments under the auspices of PTEiLChZ. It was the infectious disease clinics that were the first in Poland to use tocilizumab or the plasma of convalescents.
The editorial board recommends:
- Hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine. What about the side effects of drugs tested to treat COVID-19?
- Scientists are still looking for an effective COVID-19 treatment. A review of promising therapies
- Beware of counterfeit COVID-19 drugs. It is a threat to health and life
You haven’t been able to find the cause of your ailments for a long time? Do you want to tell us your story or draw attention to a common health problem? Write to the address [email protected] #Together we can do more