Analysis of COVID-19 and malaria, finding that COVID-19 is highly pandemic in countries where malaria is least pandemic, and vice versa, suggesting that CQ/HCQ (widely used for malaria) are protective for COVID-19. This paper also includes a review of 9 articles supporting the efficacy of HCQ and CQ.
Meo et al., 30 Apr 2020, peer-reviewed, 3 authors.
{ 'type': 'article-journal',
'language': 'eng',
'author': [ {'family': 'Meo', 'given': 'S.A.'}, {'family': 'Klonoff', 'given': 'D.C.'},
{'family': 'Akram', 'given': 'J.'}],
'issued': {'date-parts': [[2020, 4]]},
'abstract': 'OBJECTIVE: The novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), also '
'called COVID-19, has caused a pandemic which has swiftly involved the entire world and raised '
'great public health concerns. The scientific community is actively exploring treatments that '
'would potentially be effective in combating COVID-19. Hydroxychloroquine has been '
'demonstrated to limit the replication of SARS-CoV-2 virus in vitro. In malarial pandemic '
'countries, chloroquine is widely used to treat malaria. In malarial non-pandemic nations, '
'chloroquine is not widely used. Chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine share similar chemical '
'structures and mechanisms of action. The aim of this study was to indirectly investigate the '
'efficacy of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine for the treatment of COVID-19 by determining '
'the prevalence of COVID-19 in malaria pandemic and non-pandemic nations. We sought evidence '
'to support or refute the hypothesis that these drugs could show efficacy in the treatment of '
'COVID-19. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We reviewed in vitro studies, in vivo studies, original '
'studies, clinical trials, and consensus reports, that were conducted to evaluate the '
'antiviral activities of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine. The studies on “COVID-19 and its '
'allied treatment were found from World Health Organization (WHO), ISI-Web of Science, PubMed, '
'EMBASE, Scopus, Google Scholar, and clinical trial registries. The search was based on '
'keywords: antiviral drugs, chloroquine, hydroxychloroquine, COVID-19, COVID-19 treatment '
'modalities, and coronavirus. In addition, we analyzed the prevalence of COVID-19 in malaria '
'pandemic and non-pandemic countries. The review and analyses were performed on March 28, '
'2020. RESULTS: For this study, we identified a total of 09 published articles: 03 clinical '
'trials with sample size 150; 03 in vitro studies and 03 expert consensus reports. These '
'studies were all suggestive that chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine can successfully treat '
'COVID-19 infections. We found that COVID-19 infections are highly pandemic in countries where '
'malaria is least pandemic and are least pandemic in nations where malaria is highly pandemic. '
'CONCLUSIONS: Chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine have antiviral characteristics in vitro. The '
'findings support the hypothesis that these drugs have efficacy in the treatment of COVID-19. '
'People are currently using these drugs for malaria. It is reasonable, given the hypothetical '
'benefit of these two drugs, that they are now being tested in clinical trials to assess their '
'effectiveness to combat this global health crisis.',
'container-title': 'European Review for Medical and Pharmacological Sciences',
'DOI': '10.26355/eurrev_202004_21038',
'ISSN': '1128-3602, 2284-0729',
'issue': '8',
'medium': 'JB',
'page': '4539-4547',
'page-first': '4539',
'publisher': 'Verduci Editore s.r.l.',
'publisher-place': 'IT',
'title': 'Efficacy of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine in the treatment of COVID-19',
'URL': 'https://doi.org/10.26355/eurrev_202004_21038',
'volume': '24'}
