Bordeaux (AFP)
"Cases of cardiac toxicity" have been reported on people with symptoms of Covid-19 who had taken self-medication of hydroxychloroquine, promoted by some scientists as a possible cure for the virus, warn health officials on Sunday. New Aquitaine.
"Cases of cardiac toxicity have been reported (...) following self-medication (...) of hydroxychloroquine in the face of symptoms suggestive of Covid-19, sometimes requiring hospitalization in intensive care," says the Regional health agency in a press release.
"Faced with this observation, the ARS Nouvelle-Aquitaine warns of the dangers of hydroxychloroquine which must in no case be taken in self-medication", according to the press release.
The taking of this drug must be subject to "monitoring" and a "prescription" adapted medical "to avoid the occurrence of serious adverse events but also hospitalizations in intensive care which are currently valuable", continues the ARS.
Derived from the antimalarial chloroquine, hydroxychloroquine known in France as Plaquénil, is used against lupus or rheumatoid arthritis.
Currently tested in several countries in the fight against the virus, these substances can cause many side effects including heart and neurological disorders. And an overdose can be dangerous, even fatal.
In France, trials on hydroxychloroquine are being carried out by the controversial Professor Didier Raoult, who has drawn criticism after having published two studies confirming, according to him, the "effectiveness" of this treatment against the coronavirus. In a second study on 80 patients, published online Friday, the director of the renowned Institut hospitalo-universitaire (IHU) Méditerranée Infection de Marseille, says that 80% of them have experienced a "favorable development".
However, many scientists point to the limits of these studies, because they were not conducted according to standard scientific protocols.
In France, a decree regulates the availability of hydroxychloroquine to avoid the risks of rupture while this drug is currently the subject of a craze.
Pending the results of "Discovery", an ongoing European trial on four treatments, including hydroxychloroquine, France has authorized the administration of this molecule against Covid-19 in hospitals only and only in severe cases.
© 2020 AFP