Coronavirus: WHO suspends clinical trials with hydroxychloroquine for safety (Illustration) – Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP
The teacher Didier raoult No matter how qualified as “messy”, the study published Friday in the medical journal The Lancet deeming ineffective or even harmful the use of chloroquine or its derivatives against
coronavirus, does not go unnoticed. Also, this Monday the
World Health Organization (WHO) has announced that it has “temporarily” suspended clinical trials with hydroxychloroquine which it is carrying out with its partners in several countries, as a precautionary measure.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a virtual press conference that the suspension was decided on Saturday.
“Nearly 3,500 patients have been recruited in 17 countries”
WHO launched clinical trials more than two months ago, including hydroxychloroquine, called “Solidarity”, to find an effective treatment for Covid-19. Currently, “more than 400 hospitals in 35 countries are actively recruiting patients and nearly 3,500 patients have been recruited in 17 countries,” said the head of the WHO.
However, according to the vast study published in The Lancet, neither chloroquine nor its derivative hydroxychloroquine have been shown to be effective against Covid-19 in hospital patients, and these molecules even increase the risk of death and cardiac arrhythmia.
The trials conducted by WHO and its partners on hydroxychloroquine will be suspended until “the data” collected by the Solidarity trials “are examined,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “This is a temporary measure,” said Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, in charge of the Scientific Department at WHO.
