Chloroquine?

[tdw28210]

In the lab, but a less toxic option has potential too.


Hydroxychloroquine, a less toxic derivative of chloroquine, is effective in inhibiting SARS-CoV-2 infection in vitro

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41421-020-0156-0#article-info

[tdw28210]

Per Cuomo's press conference now. New York is starting a large scale test of Chlorequin, Hydroxychlorequine and Zpack on Tuesday. He sounded optimistic and cited the low infection rate in Africa as possible evidence of anti-malaria drugs ability to act as preventative.

Fingers crossed. We should know something pretty quickly.

[dad911]

My sister was on Hydroxychlorequine and azithromycin in January, travelled through middle east. Has a challenged immune system, cancer survivor. Have to wonder if it saved her?

[sc_rufctr]

Guys, seriously Chloroquine is not toxic if used correctly.

I really can't understand why people are against something that may work. At least give it a chance.

Originally Posted by sc_rufctr

I took Anti-malarial drugs on and off for almost a decade (Chloroquine derivatives).
This began in the late 80s. I don't remember having any side effects.

If it's helpful then why not?

[cabmandone]

Originally Posted by sc_rufctr

Guys, seriously Chloroquine is not toxic if used correctly.

I really can't understand why people are against something that may work. At least give it a chance.

There was an article by Reuters or NYT about China finding that it can be lethal at double the maximum dosage of 1 gram. Now everyone is all "sh.t's gonna kill ya".. to which sensible people say..."yeah... if you overdose it might"

[pmax]

Good article from CDC.

Notice they don't say the combo does not work, just cautioned if considered. Didier Raoult's study results are mentioned.

Hydroxychloroquine and Chloroquine

Hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine are oral prescription drugs that have been used for treatment of malaria and certain inflammatory conditions. Chloroquine has been used for malaria treatment and chemoprophylaxis, and hydroxychloroquine is used for treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus and porphyria cutanea tarda. Both drugs have in-vitro activity against SARS-CoV, SARS-CoV-2, and other coronaviruses, with hydroxychloroquine having relatively higher potency against SARS-CoV-2 [1,4,5]. A study in China reported that chloroquine treatment of COVID-19 patients had clinical and virologic benefit versus a comparison group, and chloroquine was added as a recommended antiviral for treatment of COVID-19 in China [6]. Based upon limited in-vitro and anecdotal data, chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine are currently recommended for treatment of hospitalized COVID-19 patients in several countries. Both chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine have known safety profiles with the main concerns being cardiotoxicity (prolonged QT syndrome) with prolonged use in patients with hepatic or renal dysfunction and immunosuppression but have been reportedly well-tolerated in COVID-19 patients.

Due to higher in-vitro activity against SARS-CoV-2 and its wider availability in the United States compared with chloroquine, hydroxychloroquine has been administered to hospitalized COVID-19 patients on an uncontrolled basis in multiple countries, including in the United States. One small study reported that hydroxychloroquine alone or in combination with azithromycin reduced detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in upper respiratory tract specimens compared with a non-randomized control group but did not assess clinical benefit [7]. Hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin are associated with QT prolongation and caution is advised when considering these drugs in patients with chronic medical conditions (e.g. renal failure, hepatic disease) or who are receiving medications that might interact to cause arrythmias.

Hydroxychloroquine is currently under investigation in clinical trials for pre-exposure or post-exposure prophylaxis of SARS-CoV-2 infection, and treatment of patients with mild, moderate, and severe COVID-19. In the United States, several clinical trials of hydroxychloroquine for prophylaxis or treatment of SARS-CoV-2 infection are planned or will be enrolling soon. More information on trials can be found at: https://clinicaltrials.gov/external icon.

There are no currently available data from Randomized Clinical Trials (RCTs) to inform clinical guidance on the use, dosing, or duration of hydroxychloroquine for prophylaxis or treatment of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Although optimal dosing and duration of hydroxychloroquine for treatment of COVID-19 are unknown, some U.S. clinicians have reported anecdotally different hydroxychloroquine dosing such as: 400mg BID on day one, then daily for 5 days; 400 mg BID on day one, then 200mg BID for 4 days; 600 mg BID on day one, then 400mg daily on days 2-5.

[93nav]

This is something people do not get. Some of these potential treatments may not only not work, but cause problems of their own. That is why there are studies that take a while.

Originally Posted by cabmando

There was an article by Reuters or NYT about China finding that it can be lethal at double the maximum dosage of 1 gram. Now everyone is all "sh.t's gonna kill ya".. to which sensible people say..."yeah... if you overdose it might"

[RWebb]

Didier Raoult is the French "guy" you may have heard about. He's in Marseille - MD/PhD and a foremost researcher in rickettsia plus a whole bunch of other things.

You want to pay careful attn. to his clinical findings - He is a very straight shooter and no BS type guy. (He also disses Parisians so there can be some humor in his remarks.)

Wang Manli in China at their Nat'l Academy did cell culture studies showing the drugs' efficacy. Note that clinical (in vivo) use has shown lower efficacy than in vitro.

I forget the guy who kicked off the chlororQ; hydroxyClorQ stuff about 15-20 years ago.

Both inhibit cov19 replication; the latter is less toxic (based on animal tests)

Lots of other drugs in development/testing. FDA will likely waive some reqs. to speed usage.

But don't forget one man's red-tape is another man's drug safety profile...

[pmax]

Interesting.
Why would doctors do that if they don't think it's effective ?

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-usa-pharmacies/states-work-to-limit-prescriptions-of-potential-coronavirus-drugs-idUSKBN2190XC

The Nevada and Ohio rules dictate that the drugs can only be used for treatment not prevention of COVID-19. Texas and Idaho said that the prescription needs a diagnosis “consistent with the evidence for its use.”
...

The four pharmacy boards passed rules or guidance that would limit most prescriptions of the drugs to 14 days.

...

Pharmacists have already seen doctors prescribing the drugs for themselves or their families, according to Erin Fox, senior director of drug information at University of Utah Health, which has 12 retail pharmacies.

“We saw this specifically at our organization and we worked quickly to not fill those prescriptions,” Fox said.

https://twitter.com/yaletung/status/1240907645516734465
On azithromycin+HCQ
...
On paracetamol + HCQ

[tdw28210]

Large scale trial starts today in NYC. Hoping for the best for the for people of the Big Apple. More stories starting to get out that it is helping people. Hopefully they are not the outliers.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/lisettevoytko/2020/03/22/new-york-to-begin-clinical-trials-for-coronavirus-treatment-tuesday-cuomo-says/#18119cfa4203

[cabmandone]

And then you have geniuses like this
https://www.usnews.com/news/us/articles/2020-03-23/arizona-man-dies-after-taking-chloroquine-for-coronavirus

"Honey! Where did that fish tank cleaner go!? I'm gittin the sniffles"

[Arizona_928]

Originally Posted by Rtrorkt

plus another downside is this drug is needed by long term Lupus sufferers who if they cannot keep taking have some very significant side effects. Since folks are running to get this drug it is depriving others who need it based on clinical experience. Cause and effective of talking about feelings rather than science

Plaquenil is on backorder through pharms. You can't even get it if you had a script.

[Chocaholic]

Originally Posted by cabmando

There was an article by Reuters or NYT about China finding that it can be lethal at double the maximum dosage of 1 gram. Now everyone is all "sh.t's gonna kill ya".. to which sensible people say..."yeah... if you overdose it might"

Read this slowly:

The difference between medicine and poison is the dose.

It’s amazing people don’t understand this.

[cabmandone]

Originally Posted by Chocaholic

Read this slowly:

The difference between medicine and poison is the dose.

It’s amazing people don’t understand this.

I would think the other difference would be the contaminants allowed to be present in fish bowl cleaner vs the prescription drug. "Honey! I'm goin to the pet store for some med'cin"

[stealthn]

WTF does Trump know?!

Thousands of far more smarter people than me are working round the clock on trying to come up with a prevention solution. I have not read anywhere that they have found any common solution a prevention...

[techweenie]

Originally Posted by stealthn

WTF does Trump know?!

Thousands of far more smarter people than me are working round the clock on trying to come up with a prevention solution. I have not read anywhere that they have found any common solution a prevention...

I always take my medical advice from former game show hosts.

[tdw28210]

Originally Posted by stealthn

WTF does Trump know?!

Thousands of far more smarter people than me are working round the clock on trying to come up with a prevention solution. I have not read anywhere that they have found any common solution a prevention...

Super helpful. /sarc

[tdw28210]

The previously mentioned Elon Musk is doing his best to help.

https://thehill.com/policy/technology/489181-elon-musk-delivers-hundreds-of-ventilators-bought-in-china-to-us?amp

[tdw28210]

Man, I hope this is true.

https://techstartups.com/2020/03/25/doctor-vladimir-zelenko-treated-350-coronavirus-patients-100-success-using-hydroxychloroquine-sulfate/

[jyl]

Originally Posted by pmax

China's withholding trial data from the WHO.

Why ? To buy enough for themselves first is one plausible explanation. 100B is a lot of pills.

China is the world’s largest supplier of pharma API and Chinese companies make hydroxychloroquine. It is a small molecule and probably pretty straightforward to make and to ramp up capacity. They don’t need to buy it from other countries. They might simply need to not export it.

An actual randomized and blinded trial in China, albeit small (n=30), found no effectiveness of hydroxychloroquine vs control. A Wall Street analyst dug this up with some good research, the Chinese weren’t actively publicizing it. Larger trials are under way and will help answer the question. Both the small Chinese trials and the even smaller French not-actually-a-trial appear to have been in mild cases, as the control groups recovered fairly quickly too.