By Xavier Kong
HOPE had blossomed with the news that antimalarial drugs hydroxychloroquine and its associate chloroquine, along with antibiotic azithromycin, were a combination that had proven effective against Covid-19. However, more recent studies have shown that there is actually no credibility to those drugs.
The combination had been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration under an Emergency Use Authorisation on March 29, following the news that the drugs have proven effective against Covid-19.
According to The Conversation Australia, a study published in French medical journal Médecine et Maladies Infectieuses by a group led by Dr Jean Michel Molina has provided new evidence that the combination of hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin does not aid in clearing Covid-19 from the body.
This follows concerns by a number of researchers that the antimalarial-antibiotic combination has been given too much of a high priority before enough evidence can be provided to show its efficacy.
A similar study from China testing the combination also found no differences in viral clearance after seven days between two groups, with a control group not taking the drugs, and a test group taking the drugs, providing further support to Dr Molina’s findings.
It should also be noted that the two studies preceding this that have shown that the combination has an effect in rapid antiviral clearance had actually taken Covid-19 patients with mild symptoms, and were free of other medical issues.
The study done by Philippe Gautret, which had tested the combination of drugs on about 80 patients, also had 85% of that sample not even developing a fever, one of the major symptoms of Covid-19, suggesting that these were patients who would have cleared the viral infection naturally without intervention. The Chinese research team which had reported the efficacy of the combination actually saw more of a focus on pneumonia compared to Covid-19, according to The Conversation.
A call was also made by Dr Molina et al to continue randomised clinical trials to provide a definitive answer regarding the efficacy of the combination, as well as assess its safety for patients. – April 6, 2020
