hydroxychloroquine | Covid-19 FAQ's

January 23, 2021January 23, 2021

New analysis shows hydroxychloroquine does not lower mortality in COVID-19 patients, and is associated with increased mortality when combined with the antibiotic azithromycin

Press release:

A new meta-analysis of published studies into the drug hydroxychloroquine shows that it does not lower mortality in COVID-19 patients, and using it combined with the antibiotic azithromycin is associated with a 27% increased mortality. The study is published in Clinical Microbiology and Infection, the official journal of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID).

“This meta-analysis shows that hydroxychloroquine alone is not effective for the treatment of COVID-19 patients and that the combination of hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin increases the risk of mortality,” say the authors who include Thibault Fiolet, Center for Research in Epidemiology and Population Health, INSERM, Institut Gustave Roussy and Paris-Sud 11 University/Paris-Saclay University, Paris, France. “These data support current clinical recommendations such as those of the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) which do not recommend the use of hydroxychloroquine alone or in combination with azithromycin for COVID-19 patients.”

December 12, 2020December 13, 2020

Heart rhythm in COVID-19 patients receiving short term treatment with hydroxychloroquine

Press Release:

Sophia Antipolis, 25 September 2020: Short-term hydroxychloroquine treatment is not associated with lethal heart rhythms in patients with COVID-19 who are risk assessed prior to receiving the drug. That’s the finding of research published today in EP Europace, a journal of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC).1

“This was the largest study to assess the risk of dangerous heart rhythms (arrhythmias) in COVID-19 patients treated with hydroxychloroquine,” said study author Dr. Alessio Gasperetti of Monzino Cardiology Centre, Milan, Italy and University Hospital Zurich, Switzerland. “In our cohort, there was a low rate of arrhythmias and none were associated with hydroxychloroquine.”

December 12, 2020December 13, 2020

New insight into the effect of hydroxychloroquine undermines its use in COVID-19

Press release:

Researchers at Radboud university medical center have discovered an as yet unknown effect of hydroxychloroquine. It inhibits the action of a type of white blood cells important in the first line of defense against infections. Based on this research, hydroxychloroquine is unlikely to be beneficial in clearing viral infections including the new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, they write in their publication in Cell Reports Medicine.

Hydroxychloroquine is an agent that has been used for years, originally for the treatment of malaria. It is also widely used to treat patients with rheumatic diseases, because hydroxychloroquine has immunomodulatory effects. It is not known exactly how hydroxychloroquine does this. Hydroxychloroquine use for COVID-19 remains a topic of intense debate and investigation. Especially in the context of their use as a prophylaxis, large studies are ongoing to investigate their efficacy.

October 21, 2020December 13, 2020

U of M trial shows hydroxychloroquine does not prevent COVID-19 in health care workers

Press release:

MINNEAPOLIS, MN-October 21, 2020 – University of Minnesota Medical School physician researchers studied hydroxychloroquine as a treatment to prevent COVID-19 for those with high-risk for exposure to the virus – health care workers.

The pre-exposure prophylaxis trial results, which were published in Clinical Infectious Diseases, determined that taking 400mg of hydroxychloroquine once or twice weekly did not prevent the development of COVID-19 in health care workers better than the placebo.

“This randomized placebo-controlled trial launched on April 6, with the objective of evaluating whether or not hydroxychloroquine taken once or twice weekly in health care workers at high risk for COVID-19 exposure could prevent COVID-19 infection,” said principal investigator Radha Rajasingham, MD, an infectious diseases physician and researcher at the U of M Medical School.

May 1, 2020January 30, 2021

Hydroxychloroquine linked to increased risk of cardiac arrhythmias

Press Release:

Boston, Mass. — Since the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a Public Health Concern of Global Interest on January 30, more than one million have tested positive for the illness in the United States, and more than 62,000 have died. With no FDA-approved treatments available to date, the anti-malarial drug, hydroxychloroquine, has emerged as a potential therapy for the pneumonia associated with COVID-19, with or without the antibiotic azithromycin.

In a brief report published today in JAMA Cardiology, a team of pharmacists and clinicians at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), part of Beth Israel Lahey Health, found evidence suggesting that patients who received hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19 were at increased risk of electrical changes to the heart and cardiac arrhythmias. The combination of hydroxychloroquine with azithromycin was linked to even greater changes compared to hydroxychloroquine alone.