First up, let us get it straight - coronavirus has no medically proven cure. Not yet, at least. If it had, all the affected would have been healed by now and we would be going about our lives as normal.?
Yet, last week US President Donald Trump made a big claim saying that they would start of a clinical trial to test the drug chloroquine as a treatment for the coronavirus pandemic.?
Chloroquine has been used to treat malaria for decades, with its more recent reformulation of hydroxychloroquine often prescribed for patients with lupus and arthritis. Because it was approved to treat malaria by the FDA in 1949, it can also readily be prescribed ¡°off label¡± by physicians for COVID-19.?
Despite the excitement, medical experts have?raised a host of cautions about widespread prescription of an unproved medication for a brand-new disease.?
Here is why:
Chloroquine was added to?China¡¯s formulary?for treating COVID-19 in February, leading to its widespread use there and in South Korea. But Chinese data has shown its effectiveness to be rather little, resting on?a study of monkey cells?in test tubes and?a consensus report?from doctors in Guangdong province.?
Like any other drug, chloroquine has side effects too. The experts have said that its side effects include blurred vision, nausea, vomiting, cramps, headache and diarrhea.?Similar side effects are associated with?hydroxychloroquine, another form of the drug, which is also linked to convulsions and ¡°mental changes¡±??
One person has already died in the US because of overdose. There are also reports that two persons in Nigeria have also died after self-medicating with the drug.?
After Donald Trump's announcement last week, the demand for the drug increased manifold. People rushed to pharmacies to get hold of the drug.?Arthritis and lupus patients in US quickly reported?a run on pharmacy stocks?of the drug following the president¡¯s comments.
The drug shopping website GoodRx showed that between March 1 and March 16, there was a 57% surge in demand for hydroxychloroquine and a 90% increase in chloroquine,?Bloomberg News reported.?