The regional health agency (ARS) of Nouvelle-Aquitaine issued, Sunday, March 29, a “danger alert” concerning cases of cardiac toxicity reported following self-medication of Plaquénil (trade name of hydroxychloroquine) at patients fearful of being infected with the new coronavirus. These cases have “Sometimes required hospitalization in intensive care”, says the ARS, which points out that hydroxychloroquine “Must in no case be taken in self-medication”.
The use of hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin, “In particular in association, runs the risk of serious adverse effects, in particular cardiac”, underlines in a press release, the French Society of Pharmacology and Therapeutics. Several cases have just been reported to regional pharmacovigilance centers. Suspected deaths related to this self-medication are under investigation. The National Medicines Safety Agency was scheduled to meet on Monday, March 30.
Plaquénil is available on compulsory medical prescription only, in indications such as lupus, rheumatoid arthritis or, as a preventive measure, for allergies to the sun (lucite). But its use in front of Covid-19, recommended in particular by the team of Didier Raoult (Institut hospitalo-universitaire Méditerranée infections, Marseille), has apparently led some to administer it outside a controlled medical framework in a healthcare establishment, as recommended by a recent decree. Gold “This molecule is not harmless as it can cause serious and possibly fatal heart rhythm disturbances, specifies the ARS. The prescription of this molecule is systematically accompanied by medical monitoring (in particular by cardiac monitoring) to adapt its dosage and thus limit the risks. “
Hydroxychloroquine is one of a wide variety of treatments currently being tried around the world to help combat the Covid-19 epidemic. Professor Raoult believes that, in combination with an antibiotic, azythromycin, it could rapidly reduce the viral load of patients and thus prevent progression to more serious cases. But a first clinical trial conducted by his team on a small sample of carriers of the coronavirus did not convince the scientific community, for methodological reasons.
No control group
Professor Didier Raoult posted on Friday March 27 a new study which he says confirms “Efficiency” of this treatment against SARS-CoV-2. A statement again immediately contested by many scientists. Their main criticism: the study does not include a control group (that is to say, patients who are not administered the treatment studied) and it is therefore impossible to draw a comparison to determine whether c ” is the treatment which is at the origin of the improvement.
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