Hospitals in Sweden have stopped using the malaria drug chloroquine on coronavirus patients after reports it was causing blinding headaches and vision loss.
Doctors in the Vastra Gotaland region, 200miles west of Stockholm, are no longer administering the medication, touted as a 'miracle drug' by Donald Trump.
A number of patients at hospitals in the county reported suffering cramps, peripheral vision loss and migraines within days of being prescribed the tablets.
For one in 100 people, chloroquine can also cause the heart to beat too fast or slow, which can lead to a fatal heart attack. Chloroquine - which has been prescribed for malaria since the 1940s - had been earmarked as a potential COVID-19 cure after showing promise in studies in China.
Doctors in Europe, the US and China have been given licence to trial the drug on seriously ill coronavirus patients. But Britain has prevented clinicians from dishing out the drug until clinical trials are completed, citing concerns about its safety and efficacy.
Professor Anthony Gordon – a top critical care doctors in the UK – today said there was still 'no strong evidence' the drug could treat coronavirus.
Poster Comment:
Horse, what do you make of this? No mention of azithromycin or zinc? And using the wrong form of chloroquine?
#1: StraitGate To: Horse (#0)
No mention of azithromycin or zinc?
And using the wrong form of chloroquine?
StraitGate posted on 2020-04-08 14:43:34 Reply Private Reply
#2: TommyTheMadArtist To: StraitGate (#0)
TommyTheMadArtist posted on 2020-04-08 15:22:24 Reply Private Reply
#3: Esso To: StraitGate, 4um (#0)
Anti-Trump hysteria. Trump never said it was a miracle drug, just that it had "possibilities."
Sweden's so dicked up with PeeCee, there's no hope left for them.
Esso posted on 2020-04-08 15:29:14 Reply Private Reply
#4: Lod To: StraitGate (#0)
Lod posted on 2020-04-08 15:58:04 Reply Private Reply
#5: Esso To: Lod (#4)
Esso posted on 2020-04-08 16:11:59 Reply Private Reply
#6: Pinguinite To: StraitGate (#0)
gives away the author of the piece as anti-Trump. I searched but found no citation of Trump calling it a "miracle drug", though numerous articles do make the same claim without an actual citation. So the anti-Trump bias of the author may explain things.
Pinguinite posted on 2020-04-08 20:32:47 Reply Private Reply
#7: Lod To: TommyTheMadArtist, 4um (#2)
Other than its direct antiviral activity, HCQ is a safe and successful anti-inflammatory agent that has been used extensively in autoimmune diseases and can significantly decrease the production of cytokines and, in particular, pro-inflammatory factors. Therefore, in COVID-19 patients, HCQ may also contribute to attenuating the inflammatory response.
In conclusion, our results show that HCQ can efficiently inhibit SARS-CoV-2 infection in vitro. In combination with its anti-inflammatory function, we predict that the drug has a good potential to combat the disease. This possibility awaits confirmation by clinical trials. We need to point out, although HCQ is less toxic than CQ, prolonged and overdose usage can still cause poisoning.
And the relatively low SI of HCQ requires careful designing and conducting of clinical trials to achieve efficient and safe control of the SARS-CoV-2 infection.
Lod posted on 2020-04-08 21:07:10 Reply Private Reply