Clinical tests show it doesn’t work – but it does have nasty side effects
June 2020
The University of Minnesota have tested hydroxychloroquinine as a possible cure for coronavirus, in a proper random clinical trial, and found it does not work as a treatment, despite claims made by President Trump.
821 adults took part in the trial, with some given the product and the rest being given a placebo. All the adults had been exposed within the previous 5 days to someone who had coronavirus. They were given the treatment or placebo, and then the number in each group who developed full-blow covid-19 themselves was measured.
The results showed that the group taking the product had not better outcomes than the placebo.
However, 40% of people taking hydroxychloroquinine suffered from stomach problems such as diarrhoea or nausea.
Journal Reference:
- David R. Boulware, Matthew F. Pullen, Ananta S. Bangdiwala, Katelyn A. Pastick, Sarah M. Lofgren, Elizabeth C. Okafor, Caleb P. Skipper, Alanna A. Nascene, Melanie R. Nicol, Mahsa Abassi, Nicole W. Engen, Matthew P. Cheng, Derek LaBar, Sylvain A. Lother, Lauren J. MacKenzie, Glen Drobot, Nicole Marten, Ryan Zarychanski, Lauren E. Kelly, Ilan S. Schwartz, Emily G. McDonald, Radha Rajasingham, Todd C. Lee, Kathy H. Hullsiek. A Randomized Trial of Hydroxychloroquine as Postexposure Prophylaxis for Covid-19. New England Journal of Medicine, 2020; DOI: