5 ms·
Study of chloroquine for Covid-19 stopped early over heart rhythm problems
- lbeltrame 7y agoThe study was not "stopped". They removed the high dose arm because of these issues and continued with the low dose arm, although at least one source (Biocentury) called the emergence of the toxic effect "stastistically insignificant trend". Which doesn't mean that it's not bad (it is), but that you can't rule out the null hypothesis there (assuming that what Biocentury wrote was correct). I don't know enough on the safety profile of hydroxychloroquine as opposed to chloroquine to tell if they're different on that regard (the French institution in Marseille uses the latter, IIRC). Any pointers on that?
- boomboomsubban 7y agoThe study comparing the dosage was stopped, but a parallel study presumably about overall effectiveness is still ongoing.
- viggity 7y agoWe've known for a long time that CQ and HCQ are generally safe as they're given as antimalarials. Heart arrhythmias are certainly a concern for long term use (such as in lupus), or for people with an existing heart condition. Based on all the papers I've consumed, I think it is likely that CQ/HCQ will reduce the length that a normal, healthy adult will be contagious and that it is probably worth giving as a prophylaxis or early on in an infection to slow down the spread of the disease (going from 14 days of contagiousness is much worse than 4 days of contagiousness). But it is highly unlikely that this is some sort of panacea for later stages of the infection or in older adults.
- foolzcrow 7y agoSomeone really wants BillGates to sell his human antivirus to us. So much so that ALL other treatments get the old snake oil treatment from media.