Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
    Facebook Instagram Threads
    Global BiodefenseGlobal Biodefense
    Subscribe
    • Featured News
    • Funding
    • Directory
    • Jobs
    • Events
    Global BiodefenseGlobal Biodefense
    Medical Countermeasures

    Pharmacists Warn Against Malarial Drugs as a Cure for Coronavirus

    By Global Biodefense StaffApril 30, 2020
    Early reports that anti-malarial drugs chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine could be used to prevent and cure the virus have received a caution from Huddersfield pharmacists in an article published in the British Journal of Pharmacy. Credit: University of Huddersfield
    Share
    Facebook LinkedIn Reddit Email

    Pharmacy experts at the University of Huddersfield are urging caution over claims that widely-available antimalarial drugs could be a “magic bullet” to prevent and cure CoVid-19. And the medicines can – if used rashly – have serious side effects.

    Although there have been some encouraging signs from small-scale preliminary trials of the drugs chloroquine (CQ) and hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) when administered to coronavirus patients, the results are preliminary and should be treated with care, argue Dr Syed Shahzad Hasan and Dr Hamid Merchant. 

    They are co-authors – in collaboration with a pharmacist from Malaysia, Chia Siang Kow, of the International Medical University in Kuala Lumpur – of a new article in the British Journal of Pharmacy.  It is freely available for all to read online.

    The authors chart the excitement in press and social media over claims that CQ and HCQ could be effective COVID-19 treatments. But they also report how this had led to hoarding and therefore shortages of the drugs – available over the counter in some countries.

    There have been reports of deaths in some parts of the world because of inappropriate self-use of CQ. And while the drugs have a good safety record, they can have seriously adverse side-effects, including loss of vision and fatal cardiovascular problems.

    “It is the duty of pharmacists and other healthcare professionals to monitor the proper usage of these antimalarial drugs,” states the British Journal of Pharmacy article.

    As the evidence currently stands, write the authors, CQ/HCQ cannot be used as a general treatment for all CoViD-19 patients.

    “Its use should be restricted for the treatment of CoViD-19-associated pneumonia in severely-ill patients only under a trial or clinical supervision of a licenced practitioner and close cardiac monitoring.”

    The article – titled Is it worth the wait? Should Chloroquine or Hydroxychloroquine be allowed for immediate use in Covid-19? – includes a bullet point list of key points and recommendations.

    It is stated that “there is no evidence to support the mass use of CQ/HCQ to prevent the infection in public at large, therefore these drugs cannot be recommended for general use by the public to protect from acquiring SARS-CoV-2 infection. Social isolation and quarantine measures are still appropriate to control the infection until a reliable preventive option becomes available, for instance a vaccine”.

    The authors also point out that there had been only limited use of CQ/HCQ in clinical settings and no conclusive, randomly-controlled trials are yet available.

    It is argued that “there is a need for an open-access central repository where clinicians can record the use/outcomes of CQ/HCQ or other pharmacological interventions for the thorough scrutiny of the data by the global scientific community”.

    The warnings sounded in the British Journal of Pharmacy article have since been reinforced by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in a webpage that cautions against use of hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine for COVID-19 outside of the hospital setting or a clinical trial due to risk of heart rhythm problems.

    Meanwhile, Dr Merchant, who is the Subject Leader at the University of Huddersfield’s Department of Pharmacy, and Dr Hasan, who is a Senior Research Fellow, continue to research and write about the latest developments in the coronavirus pandemic.

    Analysis of potential treatments for COVID-19

    Another article by Dr Merchant published in the British Medical Journal analyses a World Health Organisation trial of four potential treatments for COVID-19.

    The article – also freely available online – is an 11-point analysis of the project. Dr Merchant acknowledges that “the launch of WHO’s Solidarity Trial came as good news for many, the public in general and clinicians in particular who are at the frontline to manage these crises”.

    But he provides a detailed critique of the drugs that are and are not included in the WHO trial.

    And he concludes that: “There are as many as seven variants of human coronavirus that have been reported and there have been reports of SARS-CoV-2 being further genetically evolving during the current COVID-19 outbreak. If the global Solidarity Trial will not offer all drug options/combinations across the world in a single co-ordinated trial, we fear that the data from different countries may not be directly comparable to draw any meaningful comparison”.

    Coronavirus COVID-19 Editor Pick Hydroxychloroquine SARS-CoV-2
    Share. Facebook LinkedIn Reddit Email
    Previous ArticleRapid-Release Gases to Speed Up Cleaning of COVID-19 Ambulances
    Next Article Widely Used Surgical Masks Are Putting Health Care Workers At Serious Risk

    Related Stories

    EPA Developing AMR Risk Framework for Antibacterial and Antifungal Pesticides

    September 29, 2023

    Provide Feedback on Federal DURC Biosafety Oversight of Potential Pandemic Pathogens

    September 24, 2023

    Committee to Examine Transmission and Geographic Spread of Chronic Wasting Disease

    September 24, 2023

    Jurata Thin Film and CastleVax Awarded Grant to Advance Thermostabilized COVID-19 Booster

    September 20, 2023
    News Scan

    Biodefense Headlines – 19 September 2023

    News Scan September 19, 2023

    News highlights on health security threats and countermeasures curated by Global Biodefense This week’s selections include a global survey of gain-of-function research; funding of an mRNA mpox vaccine; Nipah virus outbreak in India; field detection of threat agents with acoustic…

    Upcoming Events

    Oct 3
    Virtual Event Virtual Event
    October 3 - October 5

    OneLab Summit 2023

    Oct 3
    Virtual Event Virtual Event
    12:00 pm - 2:00 pm EDT

    Public-Private Partnerships to Distribute, Dispense, and Administer Medical Countermeasures

    Oct 4
    Virtual Event Virtual Event
    10:00 am - 2:00 pm EDT

    Tunneling Nanotubes and Intracellular Protrusions Workshop

    Oct 12
    Virtual Event Virtual Event
    12:00 pm - 2:00 pm EDT

    Public-Private Partnerships for Acceptance and Uptake of Medical Countermeasures

    View Calendar

    Subscribe to Global Biodefense

    Get the latest news on pathogens and preparedness

    © 2023 Stemar Media Group LLC
    • About
    • Contact
    • Privacy
    • Subscribe

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.