A double blow to the coronavirus
French doctors have declared the effectiveness of a combined drug against coronavirus
Denis Gordeev, Naked Science
Hydroxychloroquine, used in the treatment of malaria, has shown high efficacy against the SARS-CoV-2 virus, especially in combination with the antibiotic azithromycin. However, it is still very early to draw conclusions about the appearance of a potential drug against this pathogen. It is also unclear the reasons why drugs created for completely different diseases may be effective against the new virus.
The antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine in combination with the antibiotic azithromycin proved to be an extremely effective remedy against coronavirus. Such conclusions were announced by a team of French scientists led by Didier Raoul. Experts from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) came to a similar point of view.
Hydroxychloroquine, also known by the commercial name Plakvenil, is a substance used to treat malaria. This drug also moderately suppresses the immune system and has an anti-inflammatory effect in autoimmune diseases. The mechanism of action of hydroxychloroquine is not fully elucidated: it is assumed that it is able to change the activity of a number of important enzymes.
The work of the French researchers involved 42 patients in whom the presence of coronavirus infection was confirmed by PCR. For ten days, 26 of them received three doses of hydroxychloroquine sulfate (200 mg/dose). Six study participants also, in addition, received the antibiotic azithromycin for the prevention of bacterial opportunistic infection (a dosage of 500 mg on the first day of the course and 250 mg each on the remaining four days). 16 patients made up the control group.
On the sixth day of therapy, 70% of patients receiving hydroxychloroquine, according to the results of virological studies, were completely healthy. At the same time, all subjects who received an antibiotic in addition to hydroxychloroquine got rid of the virus. In the control group, the proportion of those cured during the same time was 12.5%. It is worth noting that the drug showed higher efficacy in patients with obvious symptoms of infection in the respiratory tract than in those whose disease was asymptomatic.
The proportion of patients who, according to the results of PCR tests, the SARS-CoV-2 virus was detected on the corresponding day. The blue color shows patients who took only hydroxychloroquine, the green color shows those who additionally received an antibiotic. Black color – patients from the control group / Gautret et al., International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents, 2020.
The conclusions of the French scientists were also confirmed by the FDA experts, as US President Donald Trump mentioned at his press conference on March 19. "Hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin taken together can change the history of medicine. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has moved mountains. Thank you! I hope both drugs will be used immediately!", Trump later wrote on his Twitter page.
However, the results of the study should be taken with caution. A small sample (only 26 people) in the absence of double-blind testing does not allow us to draw far-reaching conclusions about the detection of an effective drug against SARS-CoV-2. He expressed a similar point of view Edsel Salvana, Director of the Philippine Institute of Molecular Biology in Manila.
According to Salvana, both azithromycin and hydroxychloroquine have a noticeable effect on the heart rate and can lead to arrhythmia and sudden cardiac arrest. So these drugs can be taken only under the supervision of a doctor and in the absence of problems with the cardiovascular system.
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