On Monday, the US president announced that he has been taking hydroxychloroquine for a preventive purpose against the coronavirus.

"I take one pill a day, what do I have to lose," he said during a press conference.

Hydroxychloroquine is a drug used in the treatment of malaria and some autoimmune diseases, and there is little hope that the drug can also help against covid-19. But at present, there is no scientific evidence of its effect.

- There is a possibility that it might work, but you have to do a survey. You can't eat anything on a hip, it's not compatible with what you should do, says Mats Wahlgren, professor of infection and parasitology at the Karolinska Institute, who has been researching malaria for almost 30 years.

If you take hydroxychloroquine against covid-19, you run the risk of serious side effects. The drug can cause the heart to beat irregularly or even stop.

- You can have heart problems and you can go away for no reason because you have taken the drug, says Mats Wahlgren.

Before a person is given the medication for malaria, an assessment is always made based on the person's health condition. If the person has heart problems, other medicines are available.

But Donald Trump is not alone in believing in hydrochloroquine. On Wednesday, Brazil is expected to introduce new guidelines that authorize widespread treatment of hydroxychloroquine corona patients, according to Reuters.

- They want something to come with. Those who are not familiar and do not understand the situation have no idea. It's a way to fool people, says Mats Wahlgren.

Taking Donald Trump and eating the medicine for preventive purposes is not advisable, believes Emma Frans, a doctor of medical epidemiology.

- When giving different types of treatments, the benefits are weighed against the risk and in this case there are obvious risks, therefore it is extremely doubtful whether to take it if you are healthy precisely for preventive purposes, because it can cause heart problems. example, she says in the Morning Studio.

The Swedish Medicines Agency also advises against the use of hydroxychlorine in self-care and believes that it should only be used in patients with covid-19 in clinical trials.

"Currently available data do not allow robust conclusions about clinical efficacy and safety of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine in the treatment of patients with covid-19," they write on their website.

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