Washington (AFP)
The drug regulator in the United States (FDA) authorized Sunday against the coronavirus, only in the hospital, chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine, antimalarial treatments on which President Donald Trump bases the greatest hopes.
In a statement, the Department of Health said the FDA gave the green light for these treatments to be "dispensed and prescribed by doctors to adolescent and adult hospital patients with Covid-19, as appropriate, when a clinical trial is not available or doable ".
The American president had praised on March 24 the merits of this drug. "There is a good chance it could have a huge impact. It would be a godsend if it worked," he said.
A controversial French doctor, Professor Didier Raoult, defends this treatment, and has advanced studies which have not entirely convinced the scientific community.
US health officials have warned the general public that they should not take self-medication. A resident of Arizona (southwest) who ingested chloroquine phosphate, which is used to disinfect aquariums, died.
Two American medical bodies, the National Institute of Health (NIH) and the Biomedical Research and Development Authority (Barda), are working on clinical trials.
A trial according to Professor Raoult's protocol, with hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin (an antibiotic) will soon start in New York.
The United States has more than 140,000 cases and 2,489 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins University count.
© 2020 AFP