Antimalarial drug for the COVID-19 treatment?
COVID-19 Treatment – A study found out that antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine is effective in some coronavirus patients.
Previously, the said medicine has garnered mixed results when used for treating patients. However, based on the report from GMA News Online, a study in New York suggested that if the antimalarial drug is combined with it with the dietary supplement zinc sulfate, a more effective treatment can be created.
The research by the NYU Grossman School of Medicine, which was posted on the medical preprint site but not yet peer-reviewed, reviewed 900 COVID-19 patients in the analysis.
Half of the participants in the study were given zinc sulfate that was combined with hydroxychloroquine and the antibiotic azithromycin. On the other hand, the other half only received hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin for their treatment.
It was, later on, found out that patients who were given the combination of three medicines had a 1.5 times greater likelihood of recovering and be discharged with 44 percent less likely to die.
However, the treatment did not change the longevity of days that patients spend in hospitals, it remained six days and five days for the ventilator.
“The next logical step would be to do a prospective study to see if this holds up in people that you give zinc to, and then you watch and compare,” Senior investigator and infectious disease specialist Joseph Rahimian said.
This is the first study conducted comparing the two combinations and Rahimian said that a controlled experiment is needed to be done to prove the benefits beyond doubt.
He added that maybe the zinc does the most part in attacking the pathogen and the hydroxychloroquine is acting as an agent to transport zinc to the cells which increase the efficacy of the drug, based on the report.
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