Study: Hydroxychloroquine Reduces Deaths in Covid Patients
Oct 13, 2023 17:14:14 GMT -5
Post by schwartzie on Oct 13, 2023 17:14:14 GMT -5
Hydroxychloroquine Reduces Deaths in Covid Patients, Study Shows
Frank Bergman
October 13, 2023 - 12:51 pm
A new peer-reviewed study has found that using hydroxychloroquine to treat Covid patients significantly reduced the risk of death.
Researchers discovered that people who took hydroxychloroquine in combination with another drug while hospitalized with COVID-19 were less likely to die than those who didn’t.
Hydroxychloroquine is already widely used against malaria and arthritis.
However, after it was touted by President Donald Trump as a treatment for Covid during the early days of the pandemic, hydroxychloroquine was swiftly demonized by the Democrats and their allies in the corporate media.
In Belgium, the drug was given to hundreds of patients who were hospitalized with COVID-19.
Thousands of others didn’t receive the drug.
Researchers examined records from 352 adults hospitalized in AZ Groeninge Hospital in Kortrijk, Belgium.
All patients had tested positive for Covid or had results from CT scans suggesting that the virus was present.
Patients who received hydroxychloroquine either had it alone or with azithromycin, an antibiotic.
They were scanned before and after treatment.
Researchers compared the results of the record analysis with a control group of 3,533 people hospitalized across Belgium with COVID-19.
The patients were recorded from March 14, 2020, to May 24, 2020.
These people didn’t receive hydroxychloroquine but did receive a standard of care.
After 28 days following a Covid diagnosis, 59 people treated with hydroxychloroquine had died.
The mortality percentage was 16.7 percent.
This figure was significantly lower than the 25.9 percent who died in the control group that didn’t receive hydroxychloroquine.
Researchers found patients who received hydroxychloroquine were more likely to survive even after adjusting for age and other factors.
Dr. Gert Meeus, a nephrologist with AZ Groeninge Hospital who led the study, and other researchers wrote:
“Our study suggests that, despite the controversy surrounding its use, treatment with hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin remains a viable option.”
The study was published in the peer-reviewed journal New Microbes and New Infections (NMNI).
Limitations include the retrospective nature of the study and differences between the treatment and control groups, including the former being younger on average.
The authors declared no conflicts of interest or funding.
This is not the first study to find that hydroxychloroquine could be successful in preventing deaths from Covid, however.
Other studies have found that hydroxychloroquine recipients were less likely to die.
One study analyzed official records from a health system in Michigan.
Many of the positive findings concerned hydroxychloroquine in combination with azithromycin.
Hydroxychloroquine is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and has been prescribed by doctors for years.
Nevertheless, since mid-2020, the federal agency has warned against using it for COVID-19.
In June 2020, Belgian regulators also rescinded authorization for hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19, despite seeing positive results.
Hydroxychloroquine proponents say that the amount of the drug, and when it’s given, is key to properly studying how it affects Covid.
Dr. Meeus and the other Belgian researchers acknowledged that some observational studies, as well as clinical trials, did not find a benefit for hydroxychloroquine.
Yet, other observational papers have suggested hydroxychloroquine is effective.
“A potential explanation for the discrepancy between the results in the observational trials and the large randomized trials may be the use of a different dose of hydroxychloroquine,” they said.
The researchers started with 400 milligrams, two times a day, on day one.
That was followed by 200 milligrams a day for five days, in line with national guidelines.
In the clinical trials that found no benefit, patients received four times as much hydroxychloroquine.
“Our treatment was lower and also used the antibiotic azithromycin,” Dr. Meeus told Doorbraak.
“This double treatment is a possible explanation for why we found positive effects, but other studies did not.”
Peter Horby, a spokesman for one of the trials, told The Epoch Times previously that the dosage amounts were “carefully selected.”
Horby argues that the doses were “designed to achieve the concentrations needed to inhibit the virus as quickly and safely as possible.”
Dr. Meeus told Doorbraak that further research needs to be done on the drug, or HCQ, but that it very well could be beneficial.
“HCQ is not a panacea, and of course, further research needs to be done,” he said.
“After all, you can’t just conclude from an observational study like ours whether something works or not.
“But look, we have followed the protocol as it was originally prescribed in Belgium.
“A study … also showed in early 2020 that HCQ did lead to lower mortality.
“If the results of our study confirm this again, we think it is very plausible that the drug has helped quite a few patients.”
link
Frank Bergman
October 13, 2023 - 12:51 pm
A new peer-reviewed study has found that using hydroxychloroquine to treat Covid patients significantly reduced the risk of death.
Researchers discovered that people who took hydroxychloroquine in combination with another drug while hospitalized with COVID-19 were less likely to die than those who didn’t.
Hydroxychloroquine is already widely used against malaria and arthritis.
However, after it was touted by President Donald Trump as a treatment for Covid during the early days of the pandemic, hydroxychloroquine was swiftly demonized by the Democrats and their allies in the corporate media.
In Belgium, the drug was given to hundreds of patients who were hospitalized with COVID-19.
Thousands of others didn’t receive the drug.
Researchers examined records from 352 adults hospitalized in AZ Groeninge Hospital in Kortrijk, Belgium.
All patients had tested positive for Covid or had results from CT scans suggesting that the virus was present.
Patients who received hydroxychloroquine either had it alone or with azithromycin, an antibiotic.
They were scanned before and after treatment.
Researchers compared the results of the record analysis with a control group of 3,533 people hospitalized across Belgium with COVID-19.
The patients were recorded from March 14, 2020, to May 24, 2020.
These people didn’t receive hydroxychloroquine but did receive a standard of care.
After 28 days following a Covid diagnosis, 59 people treated with hydroxychloroquine had died.
The mortality percentage was 16.7 percent.
This figure was significantly lower than the 25.9 percent who died in the control group that didn’t receive hydroxychloroquine.
Researchers found patients who received hydroxychloroquine were more likely to survive even after adjusting for age and other factors.
Dr. Gert Meeus, a nephrologist with AZ Groeninge Hospital who led the study, and other researchers wrote:
“Our study suggests that, despite the controversy surrounding its use, treatment with hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin remains a viable option.”
The study was published in the peer-reviewed journal New Microbes and New Infections (NMNI).
Limitations include the retrospective nature of the study and differences between the treatment and control groups, including the former being younger on average.
The authors declared no conflicts of interest or funding.
This is not the first study to find that hydroxychloroquine could be successful in preventing deaths from Covid, however.
Other studies have found that hydroxychloroquine recipients were less likely to die.
One study analyzed official records from a health system in Michigan.
Many of the positive findings concerned hydroxychloroquine in combination with azithromycin.
Hydroxychloroquine is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and has been prescribed by doctors for years.
Nevertheless, since mid-2020, the federal agency has warned against using it for COVID-19.
In June 2020, Belgian regulators also rescinded authorization for hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19, despite seeing positive results.
Hydroxychloroquine proponents say that the amount of the drug, and when it’s given, is key to properly studying how it affects Covid.
Dr. Meeus and the other Belgian researchers acknowledged that some observational studies, as well as clinical trials, did not find a benefit for hydroxychloroquine.
Yet, other observational papers have suggested hydroxychloroquine is effective.
“A potential explanation for the discrepancy between the results in the observational trials and the large randomized trials may be the use of a different dose of hydroxychloroquine,” they said.
The researchers started with 400 milligrams, two times a day, on day one.
That was followed by 200 milligrams a day for five days, in line with national guidelines.
In the clinical trials that found no benefit, patients received four times as much hydroxychloroquine.
“Our treatment was lower and also used the antibiotic azithromycin,” Dr. Meeus told Doorbraak.
“This double treatment is a possible explanation for why we found positive effects, but other studies did not.”
Peter Horby, a spokesman for one of the trials, told The Epoch Times previously that the dosage amounts were “carefully selected.”
Horby argues that the doses were “designed to achieve the concentrations needed to inhibit the virus as quickly and safely as possible.”
Dr. Meeus told Doorbraak that further research needs to be done on the drug, or HCQ, but that it very well could be beneficial.
“HCQ is not a panacea, and of course, further research needs to be done,” he said.
“After all, you can’t just conclude from an observational study like ours whether something works or not.
“But look, we have followed the protocol as it was originally prescribed in Belgium.
“A study … also showed in early 2020 that HCQ did lead to lower mortality.
“If the results of our study confirm this again, we think it is very plausible that the drug has helped quite a few patients.”
link
