Instructions are posted at the entrance of L'Archet hospital in Nice to prevent potential carriers of the coronavirus - J. Hauvel / ANP / 20 Minutes

  • The mayor of Nice, Christian Estrosi, announced this Sunday the use of chloroquine treatment at the University Hospital of Nice.
  • The establishment thus follows the recommendations of Professor Didier Raoult, director of the IHU Méditerranée Infection, who extols the benefits of the antimalarial against Covid-19.
  • Tested positive for the coronavirus, Christian Estrosi indicated that he himself follows this protocol.

The mayor of Nice, Christian Estrosi, announced it by tweet this Sunday: the CHU of Nice will use chloroquine treatments for patients with Covid-19.

“I got satisfaction. # Nice06 and its teaching hospital validated and supplied to implement the protocol of Professor Didier Raoult with the consent of the families, ”he wrote.

Himself a beneficiary of the treatment since he tested positive for the coronavirus, the elected official adds that "it would be desirable that, under the same conditions, city medicine be empowered to prescribe it".

I got satisfaction. # Nice06 and its teaching hospital validated and supplied to implement the protocol of Professor Didier Raoult with the consent of the families. It would be desirable that, under the same conditions, city medicine be empowered to prescribe it. https://t.co/3Y6L5SvNqi

- Christian Estrosi (@cestrosi) March 22, 2020

A controversial molecule

According to Professor Didier Raoult, director of the Institut hospitalo universitaire Méditerranée Infection in Marseille, chloroquine, a common molecule used against malaria, is the main weapon to annihilate Covid-19.

Out of 24 patients treated at IHU Méditerranée Infection with hydroxychloroquine in a limited test, 75% had a negative viral load after six days, he said. Clearly: the virus has disappeared, the patient is no longer contagious. In comparison, 90% of patients treated without chloroquine, in Nice and Avignon, would still be contagious after this same period.

Too easy to be true? Critics are pouring in, notably from FakeMed, a collective of scientists fighting false information in the health field, and professors warning of the undesirable effects of this drug.

Experienced treatment "on a larger scale"

During a press briefing on Saturday, the Minister of Health, Olivier Véran, timed out: "Today, I have no data validated scientifically and medically enough to reach a recommendation, but I gave all the necessary impulses so that we have this data […] in a period which I estimate to be less than fifteen days. "

The member of the government also announced that this treatment would be tested "on a larger scale": "I asked that Professor Raoult's study be reproduced [...] in other hospitals, by other independent teams . I am that of extremely close. "

"If ever it were the solution, I hope that France will not be blown away by the stocks of a French company," he added. For this, the export of this product is prohibited for two weeks in advance. "

Health

Coronavirus: Hydroxychloroquine would be effective, according to Professor Raoult of the IHU in Marseille, after a first limited test

Nice

Coronavirus in Nice: After Christian Estrosi, the prefect of the Alpes-Maritimes also tested positive

  • Christian Estrosi
  • Olivier Véran
  • Covid 19
  • Coronavirus
  • Nice