Hydroxychloroquine and Chloroquine Are Safe and Effective Against COVID-19: Double-Blind, Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Trial in Journal 'PLOS Medicine'

Study confirms HCQ and CQ are "safe and well tolerated in COVID-19 chemoprevention, and there was evidence of moderate protective benefit in a meta-analysis including this trial and similar RCTs."

A study published Thursday in the peer-reviewed journal PLOS Medicine confirms antimalarial drugs hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine are safe and effective against COVID-19.

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Early in the pandemic, mainstream news outlets reported that hydroxychloroquine “doesn’t help” against COVID, though President Donald Trump called the drug “a game changer” and encouraged patients to try it.

A CNN article from May 2020 said the drug “doesn’t fight the virus.”

In July 2020, Dr. Anthony Fauci claimed that “hydroxychloroquine is not effective in the treatment of COVID-19.”

The new study refutes these assertions, proving President Trump was right about the medication.

Healthy adult participants were enrolled in 26 centers in 11 countries in a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized trial of hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine for COVID-19 prevention.

Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) was evaluated in Europe and Africa, and chloroquine (CQ) was evaluated in Asia.

Between April 2020 and March 2022, 4,652 participants (46% females) were enrolled, (HCQ/CQ n = 2,320; placebo n = 2,332).

The median age was 29 (23 to 39) years.

SARS-CoV-2 infections (symptomatic and asymptomatic) occurred in 1,071 (23%) participants.

For the primary endpoint the incidence of symptomatic COVID-19 was 240/2,320 in the HCQ/CQ versus 284/2,332 in the placebo arms (risk ratio (RR) 0.85 [95% confidence interval, 0.72 to 1.00; p = 0.05]).

For the secondary and tertiary outcomes asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infections occurred in 11.5% of HCQ/CQ recipients and 12.0% of placebo recipients: RR: 0.96 (95% CI, 0.82 to 1.12; p = 0.6).

There were no differences in the severity of symptoms between the groups and no severe illnesses.

HCQ and CQ treatment led to fewer confirmed respiratory infections (mainly COVID-19) with a 39% lower risk.

It also resulted in fewer workdays lost due to illness: 104 fewer days per 1,000 participants over 90 days.

HCQ and CQ were also “well tolerated with no drug-related serious adverse events (SAEs).”

The study authors conclude: “In this large placebo-controlled, double-blind randomised trial, HCQ and CQ were safe and well tolerated in COVID-19 chemoprevention, and there was evidence of moderate protective benefit in a meta-analysis including this trial and similar RCTs.”

“This large multinational randomised double-blind COVID-19 chemoprevention trial provides strong evidence of the safety of hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine given daily for 3 months (average 2.4 mg base/kg/day).”

(In this context, “chemoprevention” refers to the use of a drug (in this case, hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine) to prevent the onset of COVID-19 before someone is infected).

You can download the full study below:

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