Hydoxychloroquine for SARS CoV2 Prophylaxis in Healthcare Workers -A Multicentric Cohort Study Assessing Effectiveness and Safety
Badyal Dinesh, Chandy Sujith, Chugh Preeta Kaur, Faruqui Atiya, Gupta Yk, Hazra Avijit, Kamat Sandhya, Kamboj Vp, Kaul Rajani, Kshirsagar Nilima, Maulik Subir, Medhi Bikash, Menon Geetha, Ranjalkar Jaya, Rao Vishnu, Shetty Yashashri, Tripathi Raakhi, Xavier Denis, Nimarpreet Kaur, Hatinder Jeet, Singh Sethi, Sharad Bedi, Deepti Dwivedi
n a l a r t i c l e affordable medicines such as HCQ is therefore needed. We report here a large multicenter prospective cohort study on HCWs, comparing HCQ and no HCQ for pre-exposure prophylaxis and the impact of age, gender, comorbidities, and exposure to SARS-CoV-2 cases, on HCQ effectiveness and safety.
Methods This prospective, observational, multicenter cohort study in 44 hospitals in 17 states of India included HCW's (doctors, nurses, allied staff) who were either taking or not taking prophylactic treatment for COVID-19 and were likely to be exposed to COVID 19 cases. There were no exclusion criteria. C o n s e n t i n g H C Ws , f i l l e d a n online questionnaire, sent by e-mail or free messaging application, with information and consent.
Ethical approval All the sites obtained approval from their Institutional Ethics Committees to conduct the study. In addition, a p p r o va l f r o m t h e I C M R C e n t r a l Ethics Committee on Human Research (CECHR) was obtained (NCDIR/BEU/ I C M R -C E C H R / 7 5 / 2 0 2 0 / 1 3 t h M a y 2020)]. The study was registered on CTRI site -CTRI/2020/05/025183.
Data sharing No additional data is available. All the authors affirm that the manuscript is an honest, accurate, and transparent account of the study being reported; that no important aspects of the study have b een omit t ed; and t hat any discrepancies from the study as planned have been explained.
Acknowledgement The authors gratefully acknowledge D r . B a l r a m B h a r g a va , S e c r e t a r y , D e p a r t m e n t o f H e a l t h R e s e a r c h , Director General, Indian Council of Medical Research, Govt of India, for his guidance and support in setting up ICMR RUMC and conducting this
Author contributions
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