Chloroquine and Hydroxychloroquine: No Proof These Anti-Malarial Drugs Prevent Novel Coronavirus in Humans

up with too much of it in the body if taken without medical advice. Too much chloroquine is poisonous. Symptoms of chloroquine poisoning include feeling sick or having a stomachache, vomiting, feeling sleepy and body shakes. Without urgent medical care, your breathing and heart can stop, or you could slip into a coma. Patients can die very quickly from chloroquine poisoning – within a few hours.

Second, it takes the body a really long time to flush all of the chloroquine out. Even if you take the correct dose of chloroquine, the build up of it in the body over many years might still cause damage. For example, chloroquine is especially harmful to the eyes and can cause vision loss with long-term use. No one should take it without having regular eye checks.

Ongoing Research
The science around chloroquine and COVID-19 is so far inconclusive. Chloroquine and hydroxychoroquine have been tested against the novel coronavirus both in the lab, and in patients. But none of the studies so far show convincing evidence that chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine work against COVID-19.

For example, the patient study claiming hydroxychloroquine is effective in COVID-19 didn’t use a control group. This means we don’t know if the results would have been any different without giving hydroxychloroquine. For now, the US Society of Critical Care Medicines has said there isn’t sufficient evidence to recommend the use of chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine in critically ill adults with COVID-19.

This doesn’t mean chloroquine is no longer being explored in patient trials though. There are numerous ongoing studies looking at the effect of different drugs on the virus, including chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine. Some hospitals are also publishing guidelines for their staff which include the use of both drugs in treating patients with COVID-19 and lower respiratory tract infections. But from a scientific angle, there’s still reason to be cautious until these trials are finished, and the results are known.

Because of the media attention on these prescription drugs, chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine are now in short supply for patients who need them to treat their rheumatoid arthritis and lupus. Even more worryingly are reports on Twitter and in the media that healthcare workers are self-prescribing them to their own friends and family. This hoarding of medicines for personal use has been called out by state pharmacy boards in the United States.

If either chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine is found to be useful for COVID-19, it would need to be given by doctors monitoring patients closely to make sure the dose is right to avoid patient harm. Getting these drugs in a hospital setting under the care of doctors is quite different to deciding to buy and use them at home without supervision.

No one should be self-treating with chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19 as there is currently no proof they can cure the infection – and accidental harm is more likely if they are used in this way.

Parastou Donyai is Professor and Director of Pharmacy Practice, University of Reading. This article is published courtesy of The Conversation.