Posted on 06/04/2020 10:56:57 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
A malaria drug President Donald Trump took to try to prevent COVID-19 proved ineffective for that in the first large, high-quality study to test it in people in close contact with someone with the disease.
Results published Wednesday by the New England Journal of Medicine show that hydroxychloroquine was no better than placebo pills at preventing illness from the coronavirus. The drug did not seem to cause serious harm, though — about 40% on it had side effects, mostly mild stomach problems.
"We were disappointed. We would have liked for this to work," said the study leader, Dr. David Boulware, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Minnesota. "But our objective was to answer the question and to conduct a high-quality study," because the evidence on the drug so far has been inconclusive, he said.
Hydroxychloroquine and a similar drug, chloroquine, have been the subject of much debate since Trump started promoting them in March. Hydroxychloroquine has long been used for malaria, lupus and rheumatoid arthritis, but no large studies have shown it or chloroquine to be safe or effective for much sicker patients with coronavirus, and some studies have suggested the drugs may do harm.
Mr. Trump took a two-week course of hydroxychloroquine, along with zinc and Vitamin D, after two staffers tested positive for COVID-19, and had no ill effects, according to results of his latest physical released by his doctor Wednesday.
Federal regulators have warned against hydroxychloroquine's use except in hospitals and formal studies because of the risk of side effects, especially heart rhythm problems.
(Excerpt) Read more at cbsnews.com ...
THE METHODOLOGY:
Boulware’s study involved 821 people in the United States and Canada living with someone diagnosed with COVID-19 or at high risk of getting it because of their job — doctors, nurses, ambulance workers who had significant exposure to a sick patient while not wearing full protective gear.
They were randomly assigned to get either the nutrient folate as a placebo or hydroxychloroquine for five days, starting within four days of their exposure. Neither they nor others involved in the research knew who was getting which pills.
After 14 days in the study, 12% on the drug developed COVID-19 symptoms versus 14% in the placebo group, but the difference is so small it could have occurred by chance, Boulware said.
“There’s basically no effect. It does not prevent infection,” he said of the drug. Even if it were to give some slim advantage, “we’d want a much larger effect” to justify its use and risk of side effects for preventing illness, he said.
Why aren’t they using zinc?
Will you don’t take hydroxychloroquine and go out a kiss everyone you meet ,D’oh
I don’t believe anyone said hcq prevents infection. I think the hope was hcq would lessen the severity of infection.
Was it Hydroxychloroquine alone? Was it Hydroxychloroquine with Zinc and Azithromyicin? Worthless reporting ona probably worthless “study” that likely used just Hydroxychloroquine.
Why aren’t they using zinc?
Exactly. “What Trump did won’t work! Here’s the proof!” Apples and oranges.
And the severity of the symptom comparison between the groups is...?
They don’t want it to work because orange man bad.
Again, no HC/Z pack/zinc combination?
To create a propaganda study.
What are these things? Why are they important?
Seriously, here's a link to the paper. I wonder why these articles never provide direct links:
A Randomized Trial of Hydroxychloroquine as Postexposure Prophylaxis for Covid-19No Azithromycin, no zinc. Don't these people ever read the other studies and treatment protocols? It's almost like they intentionally do not want to find any good news.
“There are some big caveats: The study enrolled people through the Internet and social media, relying on them to report their own symptoms rather than having them tracked in a formal way by doctors. Participants were not all tested for the coronavirus but were diagnosed as COVID-19 cases based on symptoms in many cases. And not all took their medicines as directed.”
And... There it is.
I also understood it to be a treatment, along with a cocktail, including zinc, not a preventative regimen.
A Randomized Trial of Hydroxychloroquine as Postexposure Prophylaxis for Covid-19
Ha ha ha! So it’s not a legitimate study. In other words, it’s prepared for network distribution. Propaganda - nothing more.
A study designed to fail. Medical malpractice.
This medicine has been used since the mid-50’s, as I am to understand. Now all of a sudden we are hearing about how it causes heart problems et al.
If I’ve learned nothing from all this it’s not to believe anything from the Ruling Class and/or Deep State.
CBS really hates that stuff.
These people are evil.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.