[ad_1]
First modification: Last modification:
Hydroxychloroquine, a widely promoted antimalarial drug as a possible cure for COVID-19, did not show any positive results against the disease over standard care, and was in fact associated with more deaths, the largest study of its kind showed. disclosed on Tuesday.
The US government-funded analysis of hydroxychloroquine treatments by US military veterans was published by a final medical prepress site and has not yet been peer reviewed.
This experiment had several important limitations, but it adds to a growing set of doubts about the efficacy of this medicine, which has President Donald Trump and the right-wing Fox News channel among its main sponsors.
The researchers looked at the medical records of 368 hospitalized veterans across the country who died or were released on April 11.
Mortality rates for patients receiving hydroxychloroquine were 28%, compared to 22% when taken with the antibiotic azithromycin, a combination favored by French scientist Didier Raoult, whose study on the subject in March led to an increase in worldwide interest in the drug.
The death rate for those who only received standard care was 11%.
Hydroxychloroquine, with or without azithromycin, was more likely to be prescribed to patients with more serious conditions, but the study authors found that increased mortality persisted even after statistically adjusting usage rates.
Previous research has found the drug to be risky for patients with certain arrhythmia problems and can cause fainting, seizures, or sometimes cardiac arrest in this group of sufferers.
The United States is today the global epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic, with more than 44,800 dead and more than 820,000 infected.
With AFP
