Hydroxichloroquine for COVID-19 infection: Do we have a final word after one year?

Augusto Di Castelnuovo; Simona Costanzo; Alessandro Gialluisi; Licia Iacoviello; Giovanni de Gaetano

doi:10.1016/j.ejim.2021.10.026

Hydroxichloroquine for COVID-19 infection: Do we have a final word after one year?

Eur J Intern Med. 2021 Dec:94:4-5. doi: 10.1016/j.ejim.2021.10.026. Epub 2021 Oct 26.

Authors

Augusto Di Castelnuovo¹, Simona Costanzo², Alessandro Gialluisi², Licia Iacoviello³, Giovanni de Gaetano²

Affiliations

¹ Mediterranea Cardiocentro, Napoli, Italy. Electronic address: dicastel@ngi.it.
² Department of Epidemiology and Prevention, IRCCS Neuromed, Via dell'Elettronica, Pozzilli, Isernia 86077, Italy.
³ Department of Epidemiology and Prevention, IRCCS Neuromed, Via dell'Elettronica, Pozzilli, Isernia 86077, Italy; Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Insubria, Varese, Italy.

Abstract

The results presently available from randomised clinical trials and their meta-analysis indicate that Hydroxychloroquine is not associated in COVID-19 patients with either decreased mortality or clinical worsening. Thus, the use of Hydroxychloroquine in COVID-19 patients cannot at present be encouraged. However, the hypothesis that Hydroxychloroquine might have a beneficial role in subgroups of patients at low risk and/or when used at low dosage (≤ 400 mg/day) deserves to be tested in large, well designed randomised clinical trials.

Keywords: COVID-19; Hydroxychloroquine; Infectious disease; Mortality; SARS-CoV-2.

MeSH terms

COVID-19*
Clinical Trials as Topic
Humans
Hydroxychloroquine
Meta-Analysis as Topic
SARS-CoV-2
Treatment Outcome

Substances

Hydroxychloroquine