Coronavirus: Brazilian Study Proves High Dosage of Chloroquine Can Be Lethal

Chloroquine, an anti-malaria drug, which garnered widespread popularity amid the pandemic owing to its apparent effectiveness in treating the highly contagious COVID-19 virus, is likely to see its popularity plummeting after a recent Brazilian study zeroed in on how the drug could prove lethal for some patients.

U.S. President Donald Trump has often touted the drugs as a potential treatment for the novel coronavirus sans tangible evidence. Trump, who has gone on record and urged coronavirus patients to be treated with Hydroxychloroquine drew the wrath of experts who warned citizens against injecting the drug which was by and large merely “bleach.”

However, as per the findings published in the Journal of the American Medical Association Network Open (JAMA), arguments were put forth about the usage of the drugs being linked to serious heart risks. The Brazilian study investigating the benefits of the drug discovered that it did more harm than good before even one-quarter of the estimated 440 patients signed up for it.

The study observed a daily regimen of chloroquine on 81 patients, which involved a randomized clinical trial dividing the patients into a high-dose and low-dose group. But after conducting the experiment for 13 days at a stretch, six of 40 patients in the low-dose group passed, as compared to 16 of 41 patients in the high-dose group. Furthermore, five patients in the high-dose group had underlying heart disease, which eventually led to the demise of three.

Several other observations have also proven the toxicity of high-dose chloroquine. The American Thoracic Society (ATS) and the Infectious Diseases Society of American have strictly warned against the usage of the drug in anything aside from clinical trials.

As per the clinical guidelines put forth to doctors, Dr. Kevin C Wilson, chief of documents and patient education at the ATS, enthused that while some lab results showed antiviral effects against the virus, there’s still a great level of ambiguity on that front as the drug is yet to be replicated with patients.“Thus, the bottom line is, whether hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine confer benefits to patients with COVID-19 are unanswered questions,” said Wilson in the report.