Tx, and yes; and I very poorly alluded to that ('twas in my thoughts but I failed to actually write about that re "indirect vector vs a virus") - given that I am uncertain about what virus might be involved re Lupus and Rheumatoid arthritis. I do not know about research re Lupus, and barely a little (anecdotal), re Rheumatoid arthritis.
I would hesitate to go into issues and evidence for HCQ and inflammatory conditions, as I would not want to derail the thread. I guess the point of my mentioning inflammatory conditions, which if I understand you correctly (I am not a physician—just a writer/teacher) is that HCQ for covid-19 works through a mechanism with zinc and possibly also an antibiotic. Is that your understanding, also? This mechanism is thought to be HCQ acting as an ionophore to transport zinc into the cells, which then STOPS the virus from replicating. Thus, if there is no zinc, the HCQ has no purpose or effect on Covid-19—unless (and here it is murkier) it may be helping in some other way, by itself, as an anti-inflammatory. Is that your take on it, also? However, why not add the zinc in the study? I can not find zinc in one single negative HCQ for Covid-19 study, unless I missed one. I see no rhyme or reason to exclude it from studies. In addition, many of the negative studies seem to use potentially toxic HCQ doses. Yikes! What has happened to science!