According to a new study by thirty French doctors, hydroxychloroquine is of no use in treating patients with severe Covid-19.
For this study published recently on the Medrxiv.org website (dedicated to the prepublication of scientific articles), the doctors involved – who practice in four hospitals in the Paris region – looked at 181 patients suffering from pneumonia and who had need the assistance of a respirator.
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Of these patients, “84 received hydroxychloroquine within 48 hours of hospital admission (HCQ group) while the other 97 (non-HCQ group) did not take it”, we read in the study. According to physician observations, 20.2% of patients who had taken hydroxychloroquine were transferred to intensive care or died within seven days, compared to 22.1% of patients in the group who did not take drug.
Effects on the heart and lungs?
If these first figures seem to tip the balance on the side of hydroxychloroquine, the others suggest that the drug could cause serious respiratory and cardiac problems: 27.4% of patients on hydroxychloroquine have indeed developed syndromes of acute respiratory distress within seven days of drug administration (versus 24.1% in the non-HCQ group). Finally, eight individuals were forced to discontinue treatment due to large variations in their EKGs.
Even if they believe that “the results must be interpreted with caution”, the thirty doctors conclude that hydroxychloroquine did not lead to any “significant drop” in the rates of death and admissions to intensive care, and that it had no significant effect in patients with respiratory distress. “These results are of major importance and do not encourage the use of hydroxychloroquine in patients with pneumonia due to Sars-Cov-2”, they conclude.
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