Drug championed by Trump for coronavirus
shows no benefit, possible harm in study awaiting validation
22 Apr 2020
(Reuters) - An old malaria drug touted by U.S. President Donald
Trump as a "game changer" in the fight against the coronavirus
provided no benefit and potentially higher risk of death for patients at U.S.
veterans hospitals, according to an analysis that has been submitted for expert
review.
There are currently no approved treatments or vaccines
specifically for the new coronavirus. But decades old hydroxychloroquine has
been widely used in an attempt to alter the course of the COVID-19 respiratory
illness based on anecdotal reports that it may provide some benefit.
An analysis of Veterans Health Administration (VA) data found
that 28% of 97 patients given hydroxychloroquine along with standard care died,
compared with a death rate of 11% for the 158 patients that did not receive the
drug. The death rate was 22% for the 113 patients given hydroxychloroquine plus
the antibiotic azithromycin.
The research, which has not yet been accepted for publication in
a medical journal, is not the result of a clinical trial. It analyzed medical
records from 368 men hospitalized with confirmed coronavirus infection at VA
centers who died or were discharged by April 11, according to the paper posted
online for researchers.
The severe threat posed by the new coronavirus has encouraged
sharing within the scientific community of "preprints" - the practice
of researchers posting their findings prior to external checks, scrutiny or
validation. The study authors did not immediately respond to requests for
comment.
After taking patients’ individual characteristics into account,
researchers calculated that the risk of death was more than double in those who
received hydroxychloroquine.
Hydroxycholoquine also appeared to have no impact on a patients'
need for breathing support. Rates of mechanical ventilation were 13% for those
who got the drug versus 14% for patients who received only supportive care. For
those who received the malaria drug and the antibiotic, only 7% required breathing
assistance.
Even though there is not yet scientific evidence that
hydroxychloroquine is effective against COVID-19, doctors have said they are
generally comfortable with trying the inexpensive drug, which has also been
used to treat lupus and rheumatoid arthritis.
But that may be starting to change. "Some publications in
the last week or two have shed doubt on whether hydroxychloroquine is
beneficial," said Dr. Jeremy Falk, a pulmonary specialist at Cedars-Sinai
Medical Center in Los Angeles, who was not involved in the VA study.
"We were using it on just about everybody early on. Now we
are using it more sparingly."
Numerous randomized trials are underway in the United States and
elsewhere, aiming to answer the question of whether the drug has a role to play
in the pandemic that has infected more than 2.5 million people worldwide and
killed about 176,000.
(Reporting by Deena Beasley; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.