It was a revelation that surprised many people that Donald Trump made Monday, May 18. The American president assured that he took, as a preventive measure, hydroxychloroquine, a drug against malaria whose possible effectiveness against the coronavirus has not been demonstrated.

"I've been taking it for a week and a half (...) I take one pill a day," said Donald Trump during an exchange with journalists at the White House. "I hear a lot of extraordinarily positive things" about this drug, continued the Republican billionaire. "You know the expression: what do you have to lose?"

Warnings of the risk of heart rhythm disturbances, US health authorities warned in late April against the use outside supervised clinical trials of this antimalarial, such as chloroquine, to prevent infection or treat the new coronavirus.

"For 40 years"

For several months, the tenant of the White House has been very enthusiastic about the possible effects of this drug to fight against the new coronavirus.

In front of the journalists, Donald Trump explained at length his choice to use this medicine as a preventive measure. "You would be surprised to find out how many people are taking it, especially those on the front line. Before you catch it (the virus)," he said. "It won't hurt me," he said. "It has been used for 40 years for malaria (...) Many doctors take it."

The White House tenant also said he had "no symptoms" of the Covid-19. He said he was tested very regularly and all of his tests so far had been negative.

According to a study published ten days ago in the New England Journal of Medicine, administration of hydroxychloroquine did not significantly improve or deteriorate the condition of critically ill patients with coronavirus.

With AFP

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