Research finds that hydroxychloroquine helps improve survival in coronavirus patients

A new study found that the controversial antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine helps improve patient hospital survival.

A team of 2,541 inpatients on Thursday found that a group of people receiving hydroxychloroquine were far less likely to die, a team from the Henry Ford Health System in southeastern Michigan said Thursday. ..

Dr. Marcus Selbos, head of the Infectious Diseases Department at Henry Ford Health System, said that 26% of those who did not receive hydroxychloroquine died while 13% of those who got the drug died. I said. The team looked back at everyone treated in the hospital system since the first patient in March.

“Overall cohort mortality was 18.1% for the entire cohort, 13.5% for hydroxychloroquine alone, 20.1% for hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin in combination, 22.4% for azithromycin alone, and 26.4% for both drugs.” The team is writing. a Report published in International Journal of Infectious Diseases.

This is a surprising finding, as some other studies did not find any benefit from hydroxychloroquine, a drug originally developed to treat and prevent malaria. President Donald Trump touted the drug strongly, but subsequent research showed that not only did the drug not improve the patient’s effect, but he was also likely to suffer from side effects of the heart. understood.

Earlier this month, the US Food and Drug Administration revoked the drug’s emergency use permit and suspended worldwide testing, including testing sponsored by the World Health Organization and National Institutes of Health.

“Our results differ from some other studies,” Zelbos said at a press conference. “It was important to us that the patient was treated early. In order for hydroxychloroquine to be beneficial, before the patient suffers from some of the severe immune reactions that Covid can have. We need to get started,” he added.

Henry Ford’s team also carefully monitored patients for heart problems, he said.

“The combination of hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin was reserved for certain patients with severe COVID-19 and minimal risk factors for heart,” the team writes.

Henry Ford’s team said they believe they have discovered that hydroxychloroquine may be potentially useful as a treatment for coronaviruses.

“In the right situation, it’s important to note that this can be a lifesaver for a patient,” said Dr. Stephen Calcanis, CEO of Henry Ford Medical Group, at a press conference. I said.

Calcanis said their findings were not necessarily consistent with those of previous studies. “I also want to emphasize that our findings are not wrong or irreconcilable just because they differ from other results that may have been published. It means that by looking at the subtle data of which patients actually benefited, we might be able to further elucidate the code of how this disease works,” he said. Said.

“More work needs to be done to unveil the final treatment plan for Covid-19,” added Karcanis. “But we feel these are very important consequences in the case of a second surge and in combining ways to move forward in other relevant parts of the world. It can help fight this disease and reduce mortality.”

Zelvos said hydroxychloroquine can help interfere with the virus directly and can also reduce inflammation.

Researchers who were not involved in the study were important. They noted that the Henry Ford team did not randomly treat patients, but chose patients for different treatments based on specific criteria.

“As Henry Ford Health Systems gained experience in treating COVID-19 patients, survival rates could have improved, regardless of the use of a particular treatment,” said Dr. Toddley of the Royal Victoria Hospital in Montreal, Canada. And colleagues I wrote in the commentary In the same journal.

“Finally, the combination of steroids in patients receiving hydroxychloroquine was more than double that in the untreated group. Recovery studies showing mortality benefits With dexamethasone. The steroid dexamethasone can reduce inflammation in critically ill patients.

The Henry Ford team writes that 82% of patients received hydroxychloroquine within 24 hours of admission and 91% within 48 hours after admission.

By comparison, a study of patients from 25 New York hospitals wrote that they started taking medications “at any time during their stay in the hospital.”

But the New York study patient Published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in May, He started taking hydroxychloroquine on average one day after admission.

“Maybe it may be a little different, but it doesn’t seem that New York patients were started on day 7. That wasn’t what happened,” said New York study lead author, Albany School of Public Health. Said Eli Rosenberg, an associate professor of epidemiology.

Rosenberg also noted that the Detroit paper excluded 267 patients (nearly 10% of the study population) who were not yet discharged from the hospital.

This could distort the results and make hydroxychloroquine look better than it really is, he said. Those patients were so ill that they could still be in the hospital, and when they died, when they were excluded from the study, hydroxychloroquine appeared more life-saving than they really were.

“In all this, there’s a slight rustle here,” he told CNN.

Both the Detroit and New York studies were observable. The doctor looked back at what the patient was doing when prescribing hydroxychloroquine.

Observational studies are informative, but not as valuable as controlled clinical trials. Regarded as the gold standard of medicine, patients in clinical trials are randomly assigned to take either drug or placebo. This is a treatment that does nothing. The doctor then tracks the patient to see how they are progressing.

Two clinical trials of Covid-19’s hydroxychloroquine, one in the United States and another in the United Kingdom, were discontinued early because it suggested that hydroxychloroquine was useless.

US trial performed by National Institutes of Health, Enrolled more than 470 patients.

A UK study run by Oxford University enrolled more than 11,000 patients.

“We conclude that hydroxychloroquine has no beneficial effect in patients hospitalized with COVID-19.” The Oxford doctors concluded.

However, White House officials commended the Henry Ford team’s work.

Peter Navarro, a White House trade adviser, said the study showed that hydroxychloroquine could work if given early enough.

“This is a big deal,” he told CNN. “This drug can literally save tens of thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands, of American lives and perhaps millions of people worldwide.”