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A new study has found that more people are taking an interest in unproven and possibly dangerous therapies to treat the new coronavirus after they were recommended by high-profile US public figures. USA
In the United States, researchers from JAMA Internal Medicine, a medical journal, noted a huge increase in the number of Google searches for two antimalarial drugs after they were recommended as possible remedies for the virus, first by Tesla founder Elon Musk, and then by the president of the United States, Donald Trump.
Searches of people looking for where to buy chloroquine increased by 442%, while queries about hydroxychloroquine increased by 1,389%, said the team led by Michael Liu of the University of Oxford in Britain.
Interest among Google users in both substances remained higher than average, even after a man’s death from chloroquine poisoning was reported.
“Endorsements can lead to unsupervised use of the products with dangerous consequences for people taking them, and the hoarding of these drugs can lead to a shortage of those who require them for legitimate health reasons,” the authors said.
“In times of public health crisis, the demand for unproven and potentially dangerous Covid-19 treatments increases dramatically with support,” they wrote, adding: “Public health leaders, regulatory agencies, the media and retailers must amplify accurate information. “
The World Health Organization has warned people not to try to treat the virus with substances whose efficacy has not yet been proven.
A recently published study in the United States showed that patients with Covid-19 respiratory disease who took hydroxychloroquine had a higher death rate than a control group. – dpa
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