CORONAVIRUS Cure?

There are some side effects to keep in mind. But most are related to long term use and are rare (blindness being the main one that we worry about). The side effect that will be most relevant with the proposed current use in short courses for Covid19 will be a tendency for a serious arrhythmia, especially when taken with azithromycin which compounds that tendency. But overall Plaquenil or hydroxychloroquine is on the less toxic side of things compared to many other drugs, particularly chloroquine which is the drug that we are trying to replace.

This will allow us to use it on less severe cases and maybe as prevention. But that is all still being studied and the evidence of effect is still very flimsy. It is hard for people and doctors to wait for solid evidence when times are desperate.

Those on the front lines are aware of hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine and have been using them on severe cases with mixed results. I fear hope about it being a miracle cure for severe cases is going to be disappointing.

The question still remains open about widespread use in milder-moderate cases which could be a dramatic difference maker in keeping things from getting to more severe stages and also reducing infectivity so that the problem becomes a more manageable one and we don’t get hospitals being overwhelmed. That is where it may be most effective and a “game changer”. I think we will get some answers pretty soon one way or the other about it’s use in that regard.

 

I don't think disappointment is anything to fear. Fearing trying something with good evidence behind it, merely for fear of disappointment, is a recipe for disaster in a crisis like this.

Thankfully, it seems our President is striking the right balance.

 

News in this is moving fast. From yesterday....


Hospitals Begin Stockpiling Hydroxychloroquine Following Announcement of its Success Rate in Battling Coronavirus

Hospitals have been rushing to stockpile a decades-old antimalarial drug touted by President Donald Trump and others as a treatment for the new coronavirus.

Hydroxychloroquine is being snapped up by medical systems at more than twice the typical pace as U.S. hospitals seek to build large inventories in anticipation of the medication’s potential use in patients with Covid-19, the respiratory illness caused by the coronavirus.

From March 1 through March 17, U.S. hospitals bought an average of 16,110 units of hydroxychloroquine, compared with an average 8,800 units a month from January 2019 through February 2020, according to Premier Inc., which helps 4,000 member hospitals buy and manage their supplies.​

And from Friday,

Dr. Oz said, “There was actually pretty big news today. There was a paper that came out yesterday that was being discussed but didn’t get the attention that I thought it would that a paper from France that the use of an old drug, the malaria drug together with the Z-Pac seemed to dramatically impact on this virus. And that could be the biggest game changer of all that can alter if we can ever become Italy… But I’ll give you the biggest fact of all. In this study they shortened the amount of time the patients excreted the virus down to six days. The norm is approaching 20 days. That completely changes the behavior of the virus. Which means it may be actually more like a flu virus in its impact on us. It’s still dangerous but now as contagious… If drug that has already been on the market for 65 years could be effective in treating a new virus, yes there are potential side effects, there are eye problems that potentially arise, we know that we use these drugs commonly. But I think it’s worth the chance. And we should be doing the study starting today! And we’ll know in six days. In the meantime the task force is going to liberalize use of these medications.​

 

And this. Made in USA.


Morgantown, West Virginia Mylan Plant to Restart Production of Anti-Malaria Drug Hydroxychloroquine for Coronavirus Treatment

 

I've been taking Hydroxychlorquin for over 25 years with no side effects for Rheumatoid Arthritis Sounds like I have been taking the cure already. Now watch the cost of it hit the roof.
MB

 

Once the virus is gone, there will be a large overhang of this drug, so prices should not jump. Recently one company rescinded their price increase of chloroquine cutting the price in half, back to their 2015 price sheet, they said it was the right thing to do.

 

I believe trials are underway now in NY and other places.

Meantime, the anecdotes continue to poor in. Daniel Dae Kim (Jin from Lost) is touting the drug for curing him.

Trump tweeted about the Florida man below. He felt he was on his deathbed when a friend forwarded him info about Chloroquine. He was warned by his doctor about the lack of testing, but he didn't feel like he had another day left and asked for it. His healing came family quickly.

Actor Daniel Dae Kim Credits Anti-Malaria Drug Hydroxychloroquine in His Coronavirus Recovery (Video)

FLORIDA MAN CREDITS DRUG TOUTED BY TRUMP FOR SAVING LIFE

These types of stories continue to pile up.

 

Yes some good stories.
FDA and CDC want blind studies where some people are given placebo drugs. Some people may die doing that to prove it is efficacious, but that is how they do things. Otherwise they will say there is no proof it works, even if many recover more quickly, considering it anecdotal evidence. Maybe they could limit the study to people who are expected to recover.
But still would they allow really sick people access to these drugs, and who then will pay for them.

 

Why Trump is at odds with his medical experts over Covid-19 drugs - STAT
Another discussion on Trump versus the doctors about this cure.

 

Hydroxychlorquin has already done the trials a long time ago. Seems to me it's up to the doctors about whether to use it This drug is already used ..
for many different type of illnesses
MB

 

Wow.


STUNNING! NY Doctor Vladimir Zelenko Finds 100% Success Rate in 350 Patients Using Hydroxychloroquine with Z-Paks (VIDEO)

 

Dr, Zelenko is taking about giving the these meds early on and the great success rate of keeping them out of the hospital in first place.



More discussion of Dr. Zelenko's study and other possibilities on the horizon.

 

Maybe the government doctors will admit it works, nah, I dont think so. Until they prove it with blind studies they will say there is no proof.

 

It is great that he is having success with hydroxychloroquine. He is using it off label which is a medicolegal risk to him, but likely a medically justifiable one considering the situation.

It very well could be hydroxychloroquine that is responsible for his success rate. Or it could be that none of those patients would have gone to hospital anyway because as we know 80% of cases normally don’t go to hospital and recover on their own. His anecdotal cases further support the hopeful idea that this is an effective therapy.

We will probably see results from randomized control trials very soon and then we will know for sure. Here's hoping. Often with trials, if the results are clearly in favour of the treatment over placebo, the trial gets cut short and everyone is given treatment.

Yes anecdotal evidence is not proof. But it is evidence and often that is all that we need to act when things are desperate. Doctors are doing that and using it with some positive results. However if we have the opportunity to gather more robust evidence than anecdotal evidence, we should. That is happening too.

 

AMEN AND AMEN

 

This has been debunked through analysis of the genetics of the virus showing it is much more likely to come from an animal source than a man-made one.

This was published just a few days ago. It is a bit of a heavy read. But basically they are saying that if it were a genetically modified virus, we would have seen certain sequences that are similar to the known viruses we have in the lab (like SARS) and genetic sequences that are normally targeted with the tools we have available to manipulate genes. Those were not found in SARS-Cov-2 (the virus that cause Covid19).

The proximal origin of SARS-CoV-2

 

Who can take chloroquine?

Chloroquine can be prescribed to adults and children of all ages. It can also be safely taken by pregnant women and nursing mothers.
https://www.cdc.gov/malaria/resources/pdf/fsp/drugs/Chloroquine.pdf