The analysis was retrospective. The treatment itself was in real time. Anyway, even with 3700 people it’s probably too small for a disease that 99% of people are going to survive anyway and some large % are never going to experience any symptoms. If a test is going to be that small then you should test it on the most vulnerable patients to see an effect - and in this case because the drugs themselves have a long safety record with minor contraindications there is little risk in doing so. France prohibited the use of the drug except in hospitalized settings so the Marseilles clinic would admit people for a day, then send them home with prescriptions. A formality. This is all too much politics in medicine but I digress.
The VA put out a retrospective study too, said HCQ didn’t work. Gave it to hospitalized people. Didn’t say why they were hospitalized. But by the time people are hospitalized these treatments probably won’t work. I think it’s pretty axiomatic that the sooner you treat any ailment, the greater the likelihood of a positive outcome.
I don’t know what works. I just wish they would study these things. India cancelled Ivermectin outpatient use a few months ago. Sure it’s just anecdotal, a snapshot in time, but look now. Cases and deaths through the roof. India is complicated of course, with the caste system and large population and different regions. But they just this week changed policies in New Delhi to go back to Ivermectin for outpatient at any sign of symptoms, even before a positive test, as they really have little hope to vaccinate 1.4 billion people anytime soon. They do have their own home-made vaccine, Covaxin. They also have a fairly active pharmaceutical industry especially among generic drugs.
I wonder if such treatments that have significant, but low. efficacy don’t help the virus mutate (there’s a name for this process but can’t think of it now).
Shame India discontinued Ivermectin at that time. Now we have to wait for studies to determine the effect.
Vaccine has a 90+% efficacy, blocking mutability.