Chloroquine and Hydroxychloroquine are two anti-malaria drugs that have been around for a long, long time. Hydroxychloroquine, also known as Plaquenil, was first introduced in the 1950s. As discussed in today's corona virus briefing at the White House, these medicines have shown promise in some small studies of treating the virus.
There was a small study done abroad in which dealt with people who tested positive for the virus. One third got chloroquine and the antibiotic azithromiacin; one third got only chloroquine, and the last group got neither (although all three groups got standard treatments as needed.) At the end of a week, tests showed the group that got both drugs to be virus free; 70% of those who got only chloroquine were virus free. All of those who received neither drug still tested positive for the virus. These are startling numbers. If they can be duplicated in a large scale trial, then we may have found a way to stop the epidemic without shutting down the country.
This is the reason that the President announced today that the FDA would be testing the efficacy of these drugs in large scale testing across the country.
It's worth noting that the fact that chloroquine is useful in fighting a corona virus was first noted in 2012. It was studied in connection with SARS, a disease caused by a different variant of corona virus from COVID 19, which is behind the current wave of diseases. That's why doctors in South Korea and China first tried using chloroquine about a month ago.
One of the big benefits of these drugs is that they have been in use for such a long time and we know that they do not produce any serious side effects. Hydroxychloroquine is not only used for malaria but also in the treatment of lupus. Chloroquine is used in fighting malaria and certain forms of arthritis. That means huge numbers of people have used these drugs.
Another big benefit is that the drugs are generic. They cost something like 5 cents per tablet. That would make a thirty day supply cost $1.50, and thirty days is substantially longer than needed if the small study is correct.
There are also claims that the anti-malarials work to prevent infection by the virus. To me, that means that healthcare workers should be given these drugs to take NOW. Imagine if we could stop the transmission of the virus to the doctors and nurses while they are treating patients. It's a huge development.
Let's pray that these meds actually work in a large scale test. It would be the miracle that we all have been asking for.
There was a small study done abroad in which dealt with people who tested positive for the virus. One third got chloroquine and the antibiotic azithromiacin; one third got only chloroquine, and the last group got neither (although all three groups got standard treatments as needed.) At the end of a week, tests showed the group that got both drugs to be virus free; 70% of those who got only chloroquine were virus free. All of those who received neither drug still tested positive for the virus. These are startling numbers. If they can be duplicated in a large scale trial, then we may have found a way to stop the epidemic without shutting down the country.
This is the reason that the President announced today that the FDA would be testing the efficacy of these drugs in large scale testing across the country.
It's worth noting that the fact that chloroquine is useful in fighting a corona virus was first noted in 2012. It was studied in connection with SARS, a disease caused by a different variant of corona virus from COVID 19, which is behind the current wave of diseases. That's why doctors in South Korea and China first tried using chloroquine about a month ago.
One of the big benefits of these drugs is that they have been in use for such a long time and we know that they do not produce any serious side effects. Hydroxychloroquine is not only used for malaria but also in the treatment of lupus. Chloroquine is used in fighting malaria and certain forms of arthritis. That means huge numbers of people have used these drugs.
Another big benefit is that the drugs are generic. They cost something like 5 cents per tablet. That would make a thirty day supply cost $1.50, and thirty days is substantially longer than needed if the small study is correct.
There are also claims that the anti-malarials work to prevent infection by the virus. To me, that means that healthcare workers should be given these drugs to take NOW. Imagine if we could stop the transmission of the virus to the doctors and nurses while they are treating patients. It's a huge development.
Let's pray that these meds actually work in a large scale test. It would be the miracle that we all have been asking for.
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