The great fall of chloroquine- lessons learned from the pandemic

Binu Krishnan *

Department of Pulmonary and Sleep Medicine, PRS Hospital, Kerala, India.
 
Review Article
GSC Biological and Pharmaceutical Sciences, 2022, 19(03), 156–159.
Article DOI: 10.30574/gscbps.2022.19.3.0223
Publication history: 
Received on 03 May 2022; revised on 08 June 2022; accepted on 10 June 2022
 
Abstract: 
Drugs like chloroquine (CQ)/ Hydroxy chloroquine (HCQ) had been widely used as treatment options at the start of pandemic with little supporting evidence. American Thoracic Society (ATS) led International Task Force had come up with some important `suggestions’ regarding CQ/ HCQ usage initially. They have suggested to use these drugs in covid 19 patients with severe pneumonia on a case by case basis. However, the role of HCQ prophylaxis, the effect of combination with macrolides, benefit versus risk assessment, age group profile and the exact definition of severe pneumonia remain unanswered among others. Now, it had become quite obvious that our perceptions based on some observational studies were completely wrong.
 
Keywords: 
COVID 19; Chloroquine (CQ)/ Hydroxy Chloroquine (HCQ); American Thoracic Society; Pneumonia; Macrolides; QT Prolongation
 
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