Beware of the serious side effects of chloroquine and its derivative hydroxychloroquine. While this antimalarial is promoted by Professor Didier Raoult and by Donald Trump, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) warns of its use. She adds that the beneficial effects of choloroquine and hydroxychloroquine have "not yet been demonstrated".
"Recent studies have reported serious, and in some fatal cases, heart rate problems with choloroquine and hydroxychloroquine, especially taken in high doses or in combination with the antibiotic azithromycin", continues the EMA in a press release . These treatments are also likely to cause liver and kidney problems, damage to nerve cells that can cause seizures and hypoglycemia, the agency warns.
According to the EMA, the data from clinical studies of these treatments are "still very limited and inconclusive and the beneficial effects of these drugs on Covid-19 disease have not been demonstrated".
The use of hydroxychloroquine shows excess mortality
In France, Professor Didier Raoult, owner of a world-renowned medical treatment and research center in Marseille, promotes treatment for Covid-19 using the hydroxychloroquine-azithromycin combination. But his studies, showing according to him the effectiveness of this treatment, are very criticized within the medical profession because of their methodology.
In the United States, the results published Tuesday of the largest study to date, funded by the United States government, have shown no benefit of hydroxychloroquine against disease caused by the new coronavirus compared to standard treatment. On the contrary, it revealed an excess mortality with the use of hydroxychloroquine, alone or associated with azithromycin.
Since mid-March, President Trump, supported by the conservative chain Fox News, has been promoting the use of chloroquine to treat Covid-19, despite the little evidence from studies as to its efficacy or dangerousness.
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