Hydroxychloroquine should not be used to prevent or treat COVID-19, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended this week. anti-inflammatory drug was once promoted by former President Donald Trump, who said it is taking treatment to prevent the coronavirus from contracting last spring.
A group of WHO experts found that the drug has no significant effect on deaths or hospitalizations due to coronavirus. They added that maybe even increases the risk side effects.
With great certainty, “the development panel of the guide made a strong recommendation against the use of hydroxychloroquine for people who do not have covid-19,” the group wrote in the medical journal BMP on Tuesday.
“The panel considered that almost all people would not consider this drug useful.”
The evidence culminated in six randomized controlled trials involving more than 6,000 people – with and without known exposure to the virus.
The group said hydroxychloroquine is no longer considered a research priority, and researchers should refocus their efforts on other promising preventive drugs. He added that the more than 80 studies that intend to enroll at least 100,000 participants in further hydroxychloroquine research will not find any benefit and should be canceled.
The drug, which is used to treat malaria, lupus and rheumatoid arthritis, gained prominence when Mr. Trump and other members of his administration strongly promoted it. Former president contracted the virus in October and received unauthorized monoclonal antibody treatment at Walter Reed Medical Center.
The FDA initially issued an emergency use authorization for the drug in March last year. This one withdrew the authorization in June, after establishing that the drug is unlikely to be effective in treating COVID-19 for authorized uses.
Federal regulators have previously warned against the use of hydroxychloroquine, except in hospitals and formal studies because of the risk of side effects, especially heart rhythm problems.