Hydroxychloroquine Effective in Preventing CCP Virus: Studies

An arrangement of hydroxychloroquine pills is seen in Las Vegas on April 6, 2020. (John Locher/AP Photo)

Hydroxychloroquine was effective when taken to prevent infection of the CCP virus, researchers in India found.

Three recent studies demonstrated enough effectiveness that officials are recommending all asymptomatic healthcare workers, whether they’re treating COVID-19 patients or not, should take the drug as a prophylactic.

Other frontline workers, including police officers, should also take the drug, according to the Indian Council of Medical Research, along with people who aren’t showing symptoms but live in the same household as a laboratory-confirmed case of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, which causes the COVID-19 disease.

The council originally recommended healthcare workers take hydroxychloroquine as a prophylactic in March.

One retrospective analysis of cases found “a significant dose-response relationship between the number of prophylactic doses taken and frequency of occurrence of” CCP virus infection in healthcare workers with symptoms. An observational study of 334 healthcare workers at the All India Institute Of Medical Science showed that those who took hydroxychloroquine had a lower rate of infection compared with those who didn’t.

And a study of three government hospitals in New Delhi found that people who took hydroxychloroquine were less likely to develop the new illness when compared to those who didn’t take the drug.

“Looking at the data of these studies, we found that it may be working and without major side effects except nausea, vomiting, and palpitations occasionally,” Dr. Balram Bhargava, director-general of the council, told reporters in a briefing in New Delhi last week, according to IANS.

A pharmacist displaying a box of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) tablets in his store in Hyderabad on April 28, 2020. (Noah Seelam/AFP via Getty Images)

“It should be continued when there is no harm and some benefit may be there. We have clearly advised that it should be taken with food and not [on an] empty stomach. We also advised that we need to do one ECG during its use as prophylaxis,” he added later.

According to the council’s revised advisory (pdf), among the 1,323 healthcare workers who received the drug, 8.9 percent experienced nausea, 7.3 percent experienced abdominal pain, and 1.9 percent experienced heart issues.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved hydroxychloroquine and the closely related chloroquine for treatment of COVID-19 but later warned against its use outside of hospitals or clinical trials because some patients were experiencing heart issues and other side effects.

People with preexisting heart conditions, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency, or retinopathy shouldn’t take the drug, nor should children under 15 years old, pregnant women, or women who are breastfeeding, the Indian Council of Medical Research said.

Because hydroxychloroquine can in rare cases cause heart issues, the drug “has to be given under strict medical supervision with an informed consent,” according to the advisory.

People who take the drug as a preventative treatment should receive 400 milligrams on day one followed by 400 milligrams once a week for 3 to 7 weeks. The drug should only be taken with meals.