An old drug for malaria may be the key to overcoming the Coronavirus

French magazine Lonouville Observator said that news has been reported that Chloroquine, an anti-malarial drug that has been in use for 70 years, has improved the situation of about 100 patients with the new Coronavirus (Covid-19) in China.

In an article in the magazine, the author, Jean-Paul Fritz, said that the drug chloroquine that appeared during the Second World War was designed to fight malaria, but that some parasites that cause malaria developed resistance in many countries to this drug, although the drug is still widely used, Alone or in conjunction with other antimalarials.

However, what the author saw more surprisingly, that chloroquine is included in the composition of other drugs used in the treatment of various diseases, far from the parasites that were designed for them, so that it appears in a combination of drugs used to treat some types of cancer.

"More than ten clinical trials have been launched over the past 10 years to test the potential of chloroquine as an adjunctive treatment to treatment-resistant cancers, including one of the most aggressive cancers," says Patrick Weerhaeuser, of the University of Bradford's Institute of Therapeutic Cancer. From strong evidence of the effectiveness and safety of chloroquine, the mechanisms to suppress the tumor underlying its effect remain elusive. "

What about "Covid-19"?
Two Chinese studies reported the successful use of chloroquine to treat cases of pneumonia, with three researchers from Chengdu University and Hospital highlighting "its apparent efficacy and acceptable safety against pneumonia associated with coronavirus" Covid-19 "in clinical trials conducted in the country.

After preliminary studies in the laboratory, it was found that chloroquine prevented infection at low concentrations, after doctors treated patients with this drug in ten hospitals in different regions of China, including Wuhan and Beijing.

These scientists confirmed that "the results of more than a hundred patients have shown so far, that chloroquine is superior in the treatment of preventing exacerbation of pneumonia," noting that there is no harmful effect.

The author said that "the anti-viral and anti-inflammatory chloroquine activity could explain its efficacy in treating patients with pneumonia associated with Covid 19", and therefore scientists recommended the inclusion of chloroquine in future versions of the official recommendations of the Chinese National Health Committee.

In the same context, scientists from Guangdong Province said they have found that "treating patients - who have been diagnosed with corona - with chloroquine can improve treatment success rates, shorten hospital stays and improve patient outcomes."

However, Olivier Bouchard, head of the Department of Infectious and Tropical Diseases at the Avisin Hospital, warns, "We cannot say using chloroquine now to treat patients with coronavirus, even if we know it well."

Orno Fontane, an epidemiologist at the Pasteur Institute, commented, "We have just been told it shortens the duration of positive tests and possibly the recovery of patients, but this information is insufficient at this time."