NEW YORK (AP) – A malaria drug widely touted by President Donald Trump for treating the new coronavirus showed no benefit in a large analysis of its use in U.S. veterans hospitals. There were more deaths among those given hydroxychloroquine versus standard care, researchers reported.
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The nationwide study was not a rigorous experiment. But with 368 patients, it’s the largest look so far of hydroxychloroquine with or without the antibiotic azithromycin for COVID-19, which has killed more than 171,000 people as of Tuesday.
The study was posted on an online site for researchers and has not been reviewed by other scientists. Grants from the National Institutes of Health and the University of Virginia paid for the work.
Researchers analyzed medical records of 368 male veterans hospitalized with confirmed coronavirus infection at Veterans Health Administration medical centers who died or were discharged by April 11.
About 28% who were given hydroxychloroquine plus usual care died, versus 11% of those getting routine care alone. About 22% of those getting the drug plus azithromycin died too, but the difference between that group and usual care was not considered large enough to rule out other factors that could have affected survival.
Hydroxychloroquine made no difference in the need for a breathing machine, either.
Researchers did not track side effects, but noted a hint that hydroxychloroquine might have damaged other organs. The drug has long been known to have potentially serious side effects, including altering the heartbeat in a way that could lead to sudden death.
Earlier this month, scientists in Brazil stopped part of a study testing chloroquine, an older drug similar to hydroxychloroquine, after heart rhythm problems developed in one-quarter of people given the higher of two doses being tested.
Many doctors have been leery of the drug.
At the University of Wisconsin, Madison, “I think we’re all rather underwhelmed” at what’s been seen among the few patients there who’ve tried it, said Dr. Nasia Safdar, medical director of infection control and prevention.
Patients asked about it soon after Trump started promoting its use, “but now I think that people have realized we don’t know if it works or not” and needs more study, said Safdar, who had no role in the VA analysis.
The NIH and others have more rigorous tests underway.
No, I will not pretend to know anything.
I will say that they need to carefully look at selection, were the patients randomly selected or did they try the regimen when things looked bad.
The cardiac changes are known and should be considered in advance.
Organ failures have been happening and might be related to low oxygen saturation.
Lying AP.
I personally know 2 people whom it helped in NYC.
Lying anonymous. I personally know 4 patients who died taking it.
It helped me !!! It has to be given early on and not once you have severe problems
Can you read. 368 Male Veterans. 28% who were given hydroxychloroquine died. (108 died 270 alive and well) One of them is Yeshivah guy and 8 are patients of AH 2 of anonymous. This is from US Veterans Hospital under the Great Leadership of Trump. (Not Soros or Hillary) What part of this you don’t understand? Brasil STOPPED using it. Not a single study that it helps. Is this your refusal to believe that he is not G-D as he twitted many times? We do know he is not a Doctor or a Scientist, he admitted that much..
But fox news has been pushing it, so it must be safe. Why heed a medical study?
My closest friend had a dramatic improvement with no fever etc after taking the drug … many others I know were helped
A lot of people both who took and who didn’t take the drug had mild symptoms.
However Donald Trump who is a stable genius with a yuuge brain and really understands these things proscribes this drug so a person can’t go wrong in taking it
The study was done on patients who received the drug after being admitted to hospital. Even doctors zilenko said that he only administered it to patients pre hospital admission.
There’s a multipled poster anti Trump obsessee going wild here that needs anti depressants, not hydrox.
Did any of you even bother to read the actual study?
This is classic data manipulation.
They did the study without zinc. They are looking to prove a point that it does not work.
Hydroxychloroquine works as a zinc ionophore, meaning it opens the cell so zinc can move in and stop the viral replication. Zinc itself has a problem entering the cell.
So while hydroxychloroquine can have some effect without zinc, that’s only if a person has efficient amount of Zinc, which is always never the case when dealing with a virus.
So if Trump said something, how can we make sure to prove him wrong? Design a study leave out the most important element, publish it, and Walla.
Guy’s wake up, playing politics with people’s lives.
You look back the NIH had a study done in 2005, yes 2005 that hydroxychloroquine can help for Coronavirus. And guess who signed off in that study Dr Fauci.
Start reading.
Furthermore timing is everything. The study was designed to fail, they did it on hospitalized patients already requiring oxygen and without zinc!
For God’s sake how dumb can people be!
Don’t you guys see through the cracks? Dr Fauci is not here for a solution!
He’s been in bed with Bill Gates for years all that he wants is a vaccine.
It’s not a conspiracy it’s the reality whether he means good or bad that’s what he wants.
The drug has to be taken before the virus enters the lungs. While it’s still in the upper respiratory tract. Once it’s progressed to the lungs, it’s useless.even detrimental. We are 3 sister. All got Covid 19. Two of us got chloroquine when our oxygen fell to the low 90s. We were up and about in 4 days. One couldn’t because of a cardiac irregularity and suffered for 2 and a half weeks with severe symptoms and low oxygen even after z pack.
Just sign the driveway wedding pledge and you’ll be healed within 24 hours. I did it and it worked.
What are symptoms of zinc deficiency?
Loss of taste & smell.
Whatever heart issues emerged must have also been there for malaria patients. If it had worked, they could have started prescribing for covid with a warning about heart issues. If it doesnt work. Trump’s question what do u have to lose is easy to answer. You gain nothing and risk cardiac health.
I’m sure there will be more testing
1. this is not “the study.” it is a “a study.” Meaning, this provides certain evidence in certain conditions. Perhaps Hydroxychloroquine may prove useless, or it may prove useful in some patients and not in others. We’ll see.
2. That said, one should not confuse causation and correlation. “I knew people who received this and they improved” is, as some have pointed out, meaningless, especially with so little known about covid-19, and the fact that it manifests differently in so many ways. It’s worth pointing out that for thousands of years, physicians believed that illnesses were caused by imbalances in bodily fluids, and to cure a fever, they would bleed the patient. Now, X number of bled patients would, in fact, get over their fevers, and make a complete recovery. I’ll bet if we bled covid-19 patients, you would find many of them would recover as well. i would hesitate to suggest that the bleeding was the cause of the recovery.