No Benefit for Hydroxychloroquine nor Chloroquine as COVID-19 Treatment, New Study Reveals

A new study has found they “were unable to confirm a benefit of hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine” as a treatment of COVID-19.

Additionally, the study reported both hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine as being “associated with an increased risk of in-hospital mortality”.

96,032 patients with COVID-19 were analyzed for the study. Of these, 5,651 received chloroquine and 9,237 received hydroxychloroquine. The remaining 81,144 patients were a part of the “control group”. 10,698 or 11.1% of the total 96,032 patients died. When compared with 9.3% mortality in the control group, hydroxychloroquine resulted in an 18.0% increased risk in mortality while chloroquine resulted in a 16.4% increased risk.

Ultimately, scientists behind the study suggest that while taking hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine is “generally safe” for treatment of autoimmune disease and malaria, their benefits for treating COVID-19 cannot be confirmed.