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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Experts nix use of anti-malarial drug to treat COVID-19 patients

Experts nix use of anti-malarial drug to treat COVID-19 patients

Published Sep 22, 2020 02:37 pm

The Philippine Society of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (PSMID) said that the use of antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine is not recommended for the treatment of patients with coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

(JANSEN ROMERO / FILE PHOTO / MANILA BULLETIN)

PSMID President Dr. Issa Alejandria said that hydroxychloroquine does not bring about a lower mortality rate in COVID-19 patients, saying that this is based on the results of some studies.

“May pag-aaral na po dito at   meta analysis or systematic review which showed that it did not reduce mortality,” said Alejandria in an online forum on Tuesday, September 22.

Alejandria said that hydroxychloroquine is not recommended “even for mild to moderate COVID pneumonia.”

“Based on the results of the solidarity trial which showed that there is no difference in hospital mortality among those patients given hydroxychloroquine and standard care. So, (there is) no significant difference... ganun  din sa recovery trial --- these are big clinical trials well designed trials which also did not show any difference in mortality,” she added. 

Last July, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that the hydroxychloroquine arm of its Solidarity trial will be discontinued after it was found to  “produce little or no reduction in the mortality of hospitalized COVID-19 patients.” To note, the Solidarity Trial aims to find an effective treatment for the disease. 

A group of medical professionals, the Concerned Doctors and Citizens of the Philippines (CDC-PH), called on the government to gradually lift the community quarantine restrictions in the country and is advocating for the use of hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19 patients, despite the findings of the WHO. 

Dr. Joel Lopez, a member of CDC-PH, said hydroxychloroquine “facilitates the entry of zinc into the cell.”

“Zinc basically is the bullet and hydroxychloroquine is the gun. Basically zinc works as  an antiviral, it’s the one that prevents replication of the virus within the cell," said Lopez in an interview over ANC. 

"It’s quite controversial but the use of this medication is between the doctor and the patient. You cannot recommend this to everyone because there are contraindications to the use of it," he added. 

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