This is an analysis that once again undermines the supposed effectiveness of hydroxychloroquine in treating patients with the coronavirus. The National Institute for Health and Medical Research (Inserm) recently published an article based on several available studies which concluded that the molecule was ineffective, but especially its toxicity when it is associated with a certain antibiotic. At the microphone of Europe 1, the epidemiologist co-author of these results, Thibault Fiolet, delivers the main lines of these conclusions.
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"A statistically significant increase in the risk of mortality"
"It was found that hydroxychloroquine had no effect on patient mortality, unless it is combined with azithromycin", the other component of the treatment defended tooth and nail for many months by the professor Didier Raoult. When mixed with this antibiotic, hydroxychloroquine has a ... harmful effect! The researchers observed "a statistically significant increase in the risk of mortality," says Thibault Fiolet. "All this suggests that hydroxychloroquine would not be effective in treating hospitalized patients," he adds cautiously to the microphone of Europe 1.
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A caution that the researcher justifies: "We will always have controversies, the subject has become much more political than scientific." But, it is certain, the results of this analysis "bring a new stone to the edifice which rather goes towards a closure of the debate of hydroxychloroquine." And to conclude: "For the moment, everything converges to say that it does not work."