Hydroxychloroquine more effective than placebo in preventing COVID-19: Study

In a clinical trial testing whether the daily regimen of hydroxychloroquine can protect people most likely to be exposed to COVID-19, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine said they were infected among health care workers who took it. Those who have found that there is no difference in rates and are taking medication and placebo. Researchers have observed a lack of effects associated with hydroxychloroquine, but participants have low levels of infection and other precautions in the health system, such as social distance, use of personal protective equipment, and proper hand hygiene. Researchers believe it is effective. ..The study was announced today JAMA Internal Medicine..

“This work represents the first randomized controlled trial of HydroxychloroquineThe lead author of the study, Dr. Benjamin Avella, a professor of emergency medicine and director of the Center for Resuscitation Science in Penn Medicine, said, “Preventive effects on people who have not yet been exposed to COVID-19. “.It is an effective drug for the treatment of diseases such as lupus and malaria, and there was no difference that recommended prescribing it. Preventive drug For COVID-19 of frontline workers. “

The novel nature of COVID-19 required the scientific and medical community to quickly evaluate treatments and precautions.One drug considered as a potential preventative measure was hydroxychloroquine based on Laboratory research SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, can be prevented from invading cells in tissue culture.

That’s why Abella embarked on a rigorous test with the lead author of the study, Ravi Amaravadi, MD, an associate professor of hematology oncology medicine, and the program co-leader of Cancer Therapeutics at the Abramson Cancer Center, and their co-authors. Whether taking large doses of hydroxychloroquine (600 milligrams daily for 2 months) affects infection rates. They conducted this study on hospital workers who had regular contact with COVID-19 patients.

The researchers were able to analyze a pool of 125 doctors, nurses, certified nursing assistants, emergency technicians, and respiratory therapists hired for the study. This population worked in several different areas of the two university hospitals, including the emergency department and the COVID-19 unit. About half of the study participants took hydroxychloroquine and the other half took the corresponding placebo (cellulose pill). The study was double-blind. In other words, neither the researchers nor the participants knew the drug assigned to them.

Extensive testing was used to rigorously prove who was or was not infected with the virus. Each person underwent a COVID-19 swab and antibody test at the beginning, middle, and end of participation in the study. This is the eight weeks of the study period from April 9th ​​to July 14th, 2020. Due to concerns that hydroxychloroquine may cause cardiac rhythmic problems in severe cases of participant COVID-19, an electrocardiogram (ECG) test was also performed.

“I felt that it was important to adopt it in order to actually test the potential of HCQ as a preventive drug. Health care workers After hours of direct physical exposure to patients with COVID-19, they are double-blindly randomized between hydroxychloroquine or the corresponding placebo and treated for a long period of time, “says Amaravadi. We carefully monitored the safety of the participants. “

At the end of the study, 6.3 percent of those who took hydroxychloroquine were positive for COVID-19, compared to 6.6 percent of those who took placebo. No hospitalization was required. In addition, no differences in cardiac rhythm were detected in either group of studies. This indicates that the drug has no protective effect, but is not harmful except for temporary side effects such as diarrhea.

“The difference we saw was negligible,” said Amaravadi. “And everyone infected with the virus, whether or not they were taking hydroxychloroquine, was asymptomatic or had very mild COVID-19.”

The study initially planned to hire 200 healthcare professionals, but analysis along the way showed that continued enrollment did not yield different results. An independent data security monitoring committee reviewed and agreed to the findings.

These results affect dozens of planned clinical trials around the world testing hydroxychloroquine for the prevention of COVID-19 infection in healthcare professionals. Although different results may be found in much larger studies, the results of the Penn study suggest that other forms of prevention, including vaccines, may be more noteworthy.