DETROIT, MI – A new study from the Henry Ford Health System may provide more legitimacy in the use of hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19.
Henry Ford published the peer-reviewed study on July 1, using a large-scale perspective analysis of patients from March 10 to May 2. The study examined more than 2,500 hospitalized patients from Henry Ford’s six hospitals, said Dr. Marcus Zervos, chief infectious disease division for the Henry Ford Health System.
He said the health system wanted to investigate hydroxychloroquine because the data showed that it had some clinical benefit and that it could reduce the inflammatory response in patients with COVID-19 at the start of the pandemic.
“We thought it would be important to us, or potentially important to use in our patients, (because) we had no other proven options,” said Zervos.
The study concluded that treatment with hydroxychloroquine significantly reduces the mortality rate of patients with COVID-19, Zervos said. Of those treated with hydroxychloroquine alone, 13% of them died, compared to 26.4% who died and were not treated with the drug. There was an overall hospital mortality rate of 18.1% and patients were over 18 years of age, with a median age of 64.
Many of the deaths involved people with underlying health conditions, according to an article in the Henry Ford Health System. These diseases include chronic kidney and lung disease. Mortality of hospitalized patients ranged from 10% to 30% worldwide.
The study also considered azithromycin treatment. It was found that 20.1% of patients treated with azithromycin and hydroxychloroquine died and 22.4% of those treated with azithromycin alone died, compared to a death rate of 26.4% for those who received no treatment with either drug, according to Henry Ford’s health article.
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However, despite the study’s findings, the article also stated that people should be cautious in their reaction to the seemingly encouraging results. Randomized controlled trials would still be required to confirm the effectiveness of hydroxychloroquine in the treatment of COVID-19.
“Currently, the drug should be used only in hospitalized patients with adequate monitoring and as part of study protocols, in accordance with all relevant federal regulations,” Dr. Zervos said in the article.
Hydroxychloroquine is a medicine mainly used to treat malaria and lupus. The drug recently gained notoriety when President Donald Trump touted its effectiveness in treating COVID-19, despite FDA warnings, according to a USA Today article.
The use of the drug to treat COVID-19 remains controversial. Many Michigan health systems, such as Michigan Medicine, Beaumont Health and St. Joseph Mercy decided not to use hydroxychloroquine or to stop using it after trying it, according to a Detroit News article.
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Zervos said the Henry Ford health study was peer-reviewed, unlike other studies. While some studies have shown the drug to be ineffective, studies on the use of different doses of drugs said.
“These negative studies seem to draw more attention,” said Zervos. “But there are many studies that have shown that the benefits have not received as much attention, not just our study.”
