French researchers use malaria drug to cure 36 patients
Researchers think they've found a cure for corona virus.
French physician-researchers have completed a largely successful clinical trial using a drug originally developed to treal malaria, the New York Post reported.
Hydroxychloroquine, sold under the brand name Plaquenil — and also used to treat arthritis and other ailments — was determined to be effective in killing the deadly bug in laboratory experiments, Forbes reported, citing findings published March 9 in the Clinical Infectious Diseases journal.
The drug developed in 1955 is showing signs that it may also help cure COVID-19 — especially when combined with an antibiotic, a promising new study reveals.
“(W)e predict that the drug has a good potential to combat the disease,” the study’s authors, most from the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Wuhan, wrote in a letter published in Cell Discovery on Wednesday, according to the report.
36 patients — including 20 treated individuals and 16 infected controls — were enrolled in the study, led by Didier Raoult, an infectious disease expert from l’Institut Hospitalo-Universitaire in Marseille.
The treated group was given 600 mg of Plaquenil each day.
The researchers found 50% of the treated group turned from positive to negative for the virus by the 3rd day. By day 6, that figure was up to 70%.
Of the 20 test patients, 6 who were treated with both Plaquenil and the antibiotic azithromycin showed impressive results — with 5 testing negative at day 3. All 6 of them tested negative at day 6.
“Despite its small sample size our survey shows that hydroxychloroquine treatment is significantly associated with viral load reduction/disappearance in COVID-19 patients and its effect is reinforced by azithromycin,” the study concluded.
