3 ms·

A bit more info: https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/man-dies-after-ingesting-chloroquine-attempt-prevent-coronavirus-n1167166 https://www.nbcnews.com/he

A bit more info: https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/man-dies-after-ingesting-chloroquine-attempt-prevent-coronavirus-n1167166 https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/man-dies-after-in... Also happening in Nigeria: https://www.democracynow.org/2020/3/23/headlines/two_nigerian_overdose_self_medicating_with_chloroquine_after_trump_praised_anti_malaria_drug_as_possible_covid_19_treatment https://www.democracynow.org/2020/3/23/headlines/two_nigeria... Note that there doesn't appear to be any evidence yet that chloroquine is effective in COVID-19 treatment. So far it has been studied only for other types of coronavirus.

JohnJamesRambo 7y ago
>Note that there doesn't appear to be any evidence yet that chloroquine is effective in COVID-19 treatment. So far it has been studied only for other types of coronavirus. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32173110 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32173110 That's incorrect. I don't know how these people died from taking chloroquine phosphate, it is quite safe when taken in normal dosages. What they had may have been contaminated (since it seems to be for aquariums!) or they took wildly more than needed. People with rheumatoid arthritis take chloroquine phosphate for years at a time.
- jakeinspace 7y ago
  Maybe, but I didn't see a linked paper (I could've missed it).
- post_below 7y ago
  "In vitro" It seems like a promising treatment, but in vitro effectiveness often doesn't translate to actual effectiveness. I'm not saying they shouldn't use it, in an emergency sometimes experimental therapies make sense. In these times, though, I think rational science is also important. We do not yet have studies of it's effectiveness in treating COVID-19. Also from your link: >CONCLUSIONS: There is rationale, pre-clinical evidence of effectiveness and evidence of safety from long-time clinical use for other indications to justify clinical research on chloroquine in patients with COVID-19. However, clinical use should either adhere to the Monitored Emergency Use of Unregistered Interventions (MEURI) framework or be ethically approved as a trial as stated by the World Health Organization. Safety data and data from high-quality clinical trials are urgently needed. I genuinely think it's valuable (in our post fact world) to be able to tell the difference between the concepts of "evidence to support further study" and evidence of effectiveness in a particular application. Edit: New thread here at HN: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22671404 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22671404
gulli1010 7y ago
It is the standard course of treatment in Belgium and other European countries https://epidemio.wiv-isp.be/ID/Documents/Covid19/COVID-19_InterimGuidelines_Treatment_ENG.pdf https://epidemio.wiv-isp.be/ID/Documents/Covid19/COVID-19_In...
swebs 7y ago
>Note that there doesn't appear to be any evidence yet that chloroquine is effective in COVID-19 treatment. So far it has been studied only for other types of coronavirus. Seriously? It seems like every few days a new study pops up here. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41421-020-0156-0.pdf https://www.nature.com/articles/s41421-020-0156-0.pdf https://www.mediterranee-infection.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/COVID-19.pdf https://www.mediterranee-infection.com/wp-content/uploads/20... https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04307693 https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04307693 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0924857920300820 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S092485792... It seemed like there was no shortage of praise for this drug in the media, until president Trump mentioned it and then all the talking heads did a complete 180.

JohnJamesRambo 7y ago

>Note that there doesn't appear to be any evidence yet that chloroquine is effective in COVID-19 treatment. So far it has been studied only for other types of coronavirus. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32173110 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32173110 That's incorrect. I don't know how these people died from taking chloroquine phosphate, it is quite safe when taken in normal dosages. What they had may have been contaminated (since it seems to be for aquariums!) or they took wildly more than needed. People with rheumatoid arthritis take chloroquine phosphate for years at a time.

jakeinspace 7y ago
Maybe, but I didn't see a linked paper (I could've missed it).
post_below 7y ago
"In vitro" It seems like a promising treatment, but in vitro effectiveness often doesn't translate to actual effectiveness. I'm not saying they shouldn't use it, in an emergency sometimes experimental therapies make sense. In these times, though, I think rational science is also important. We do not yet have studies of it's effectiveness in treating COVID-19. Also from your link: >CONCLUSIONS: There is rationale, pre-clinical evidence of effectiveness and evidence of safety from long-time clinical use for other indications to justify clinical research on chloroquine in patients with COVID-19. However, clinical use should either adhere to the Monitored Emergency Use of Unregistered Interventions (MEURI) framework or be ethically approved as a trial as stated by the World Health Organization. Safety data and data from high-quality clinical trials are urgently needed. I genuinely think it's valuable (in our post fact world) to be able to tell the difference between the concepts of "evidence to support further study" and evidence of effectiveness in a particular application. Edit: New thread here at HN: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22671404 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22671404

gulli1010 7y ago

It is the standard course of treatment in Belgium and other European countries https://epidemio.wiv-isp.be/ID/Documents/Covid19/COVID-19_InterimGuidelines_Treatment_ENG.pdf https://epidemio.wiv-isp.be/ID/Documents/Covid19/COVID-19_In...

swebs 7y ago

>Note that there doesn't appear to be any evidence yet that chloroquine is effective in COVID-19 treatment. So far it has been studied only for other types of coronavirus. Seriously? It seems like every few days a new study pops up here. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41421-020-0156-0.pdf https://www.nature.com/articles/s41421-020-0156-0.pdf https://www.mediterranee-infection.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/COVID-19.pdf https://www.mediterranee-infection.com/wp-content/uploads/20... https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04307693 https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04307693 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0924857920300820 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S092485792... It seemed like there was no shortage of praise for this drug in the media, until president Trump mentioned it and then all the talking heads did a complete 180.