Brazilian chloroquine study halted after high dose proved lethal for some patients

[Eugene]

Source: The Guardian

Brazilian chloroquine study halted after high dose proved lethal for some patients

Concerns grow as the journal Nature raises alarm on serious heart risks associated with Covid-19 patients taking the drugs

Jessica Glenza
@JessicaGlenza
Fri 24 Apr 2020 20.20 BST
Last modified on Sat 25 Apr 2020 02.32 BST

A Brazilian study investigating whether the anti-malaria drug chloroquine was effective in treating patients with Covid-19 was halted on safety concerns, after a high dose of the drug proved lethal for some patients.

Chloroquine, and a related drug, hydroxychloroquine, in combination with the antibiotic azithromycin, has been touted as a potential treatment for coronavirus by Donald Trump despite a lack of evidence.

The findings were published as a letter in the journal Nature raised alarm about serious heart risks associated with Covid-19 patients taking the drugs and the US Food and Drug Administration warned of serious heart complications.

Donald Trump has previously urged Americans to take hydroxychloroquine, although he has apparently backed away from the drug in recent days, and on Thursday even suggested that injections of disinfectant could cure Covid-19 – an idea that was swiftly refuted by experts, who warned the public “please don’t inject bleach”.

The Brazilian study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association Network Open (Jama), was halted by a safety monitoring board before even one-quarter of the planned 440 patients were enrolled. Eighty-one patients with Covid-19 or suspected Covid-19 were given a daily regimen of chloroquine. The randomized clinical trial separated the patients into a high-dose and a low-dose group.

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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/24/chloroquine-study-coronavirus-brazil

[abqtommy]

1. Chloroquine has a long history of use in malaria infections. In doing some research I found that

in some cases contracting malaria and undergoing treatment heart problems appeared after some
years had passed, but no immediate health concerns with using chloroquine itself. Wouldn't it be
wise to use malaria treatment dosage levels since those are already established?* In the information
I saw, hydrocholoroquine was not listed as a treatment for malaria although it is used to treat lupus.

*https://www.drugs.com/dosage/chloroquine.html#Usual_Adult_Dose_for_Malaria_Prophylaxis

"Usual Adult Dose for Malaria Prophylaxis

500 mg chloroquine phosphate (300 mg base) orally on the same day each week

Comments:
-If possible, suppressive therapy should start 2 weeks prior to exposure; if unable to start 2 weeks before exposure, an initial loading dose of 1 g chloroquine phosphate (600 mg base) may be taken orally in 2 divided doses, 6 hours apart.
-Suppressive therapy should continue for 8 weeks after leaving the endemic area.

Approved indication: For the suppressive treatment of malaria due to Plasmodium vivax, P malariae, P ovale, and susceptible strains of P falciparum

CDC Recommendations:
300 mg base (500 mg salt) orally once a week"

Interesting in that this dosage is a preventative and after the first "loading dose" the medication is
taken only once a week...