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Hydroxychloroquine, Other Autoimmune Drugs Don’t Fully Protect Against COVID-19, Research Sponsored by Global Rheumatology Alliance Suggests
Epoch Times ^ | 04/9/2020 | BY KATABELLA ROBERTS

Posted on 04/19/2020 6:28:07 AM PDT by SeekAndFind

Dozens of people taking hydroxychloroquine and other autoimmune drugs for chronic ailments such as lupus and rheumatoid arthritis have tested positive for the CCP (The Chinese Communist Party) virus, according to data compiled by the Global Rheumatology Alliance.

The study is sponsored by an international collaborative, the COVID-19 Global Rheumatology Alliance, which includes a large group of academics, clinicians, and patients working together, and so far suggests that hydroxychloroquine doesn’t always protect against the disease, which originated in Wuhan, China, in December last year.

Over 9,500 patients have submitted surveys to the alliance, of which nearly half were diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis or lupus. Nearly a third of all respondents with the chronic disease said they were taking hydroxychloroquine, of which 189 (7 percent) said they were diagnosed with the virus.

Separately, patient information provided by rheumatologists and published on Thursday in The Lancet Rheumatology also suggests the antimalarials may not adequately protect people from the virus. Of the first 110 patients reported, 69 were taking medications such as hydroxychloroquine to treat chronic ailments like systemic lupus erythematosus and rheumatoid arthritis, before being diagnosed with the coronavirus.

As of April 1, 2020, 110 individuals with rheumatic disease who have been diagnosed with COVID-19 are included from six continents: Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Africa, and Oceania.

However, the research doesn’t specifically address whether hydroxychloroquine is effective at treating coronavirus symptoms, and researchers acknowledged that one limitation to the study is that some countries test only people showing severe symptoms.

Jinoos Yazdany, chief of the division of rheumatology at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, told The Wall Street Journal that the antimalarial doesn’t fully protect people from contracting the new virus and is “not a magic bullet because people that are on it are contracting the infection.”

On March 28, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized emergency use of the drug, which President Donald Trump has also touted as a “game changer” in the fight against the CCP virus, allowing the federal government to begin distributing millions of doses to states across the United States. However, as of yet, no large clinical trials have been conducted to validate smaller studies and prove the drug can safely be used to treat the disease, prompting medical professionals, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, the United States’ leading infectious disease expert and a member of the White House coronavirus task force, to caution against using the drug.

Speaking at a White House news conference on March 20, Fauci said data on the drug so far “was not done in a controlled clinical trial. So you really can’t make any definitive statement about it,” and that only such studies would determine if the drug was truly safe and effective.

A number of clinical trials exploring the drug’s efficacy and safety are currently underway around the world, including a 1,500-person trial at the University of Minnesota. Three early studies, two from France and one from China, indicate a benefit of utilising hydroxychloroquine but have been branded inadequate by some in the medical community.

India, which manufactures 70 percent of the world’s supply of hydroxychloroquine, agreed on April 7 to lift an earlier ban on the export of the drug following a telephone conversation between U.S. President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Trump had said at a previous press conference that India could face retaliation if it failed to lift the ban and release the 29 million doses of the drug it had ordered for its medical stockpile.


TOPICS: Health/Medicine; Science; Society
KEYWORDS: covid19; hcq; hydroxychloroquine; prophylaxis
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1 posted on 04/19/2020 6:28:07 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
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To: SeekAndFind

So, 7% got the virus. How many died? Kinda important question.


2 posted on 04/19/2020 6:34:58 AM PDT by euclid216
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To: SeekAndFind

I wouldn’t expect any drug to be FULLY protective


3 posted on 04/19/2020 6:35:11 AM PDT by RonnG (')
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To: euclid216

RE: So, 7% got the virus. How many died? Kinda important question.

How many died is not the issue in this study. Let’s not conflate treatment with prophylaxis.

The question is now many were INFECTED. Period.


4 posted on 04/19/2020 6:36:53 AM PDT by SeekAndFind (look at Michigan, it will)
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To: SeekAndFind

There is no “silver bullet” in the pharmaceutical world. There is no drug that has a 100% cure rate without side effects. However, HCQ seems to be considerably less lethal and more effective than many (frightfully expensive) “miracle drugs”. It would be interesting to see how many of the “experts” cited in the article are bought and paid for by “big Pharma”. Big Pharma has no interest in inexpensive, effective medicines. Pardon me, but the article seems to be a bullsh*t hit piece from Pharma minions. Just remember that many of the new psoriasis and arthritis drug have to warn that one of their many side effects is death.


5 posted on 04/19/2020 6:37:10 AM PDT by TheConservativeBanker
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To: RonnG

Funny. I would demand as much from any drug that was sold as “100%”.


6 posted on 04/19/2020 6:37:56 AM PDT by wastoute (Government cannot redistribute wealth. Government can only redistribute poverty.)
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To: TheConservativeBanker

RE: There is no “silver bullet” in the pharmaceutical world. There is no drug that has a 100% cure rate without side effects.

Again, please, let’s focus on the item that this article is trying to address — not treatment AFTER one has Covid-19, but WHETHER OR NOT Hydroxychloroquie acts as a protective against INFECTION from Covid-19 the way it does for Malaria.


7 posted on 04/19/2020 6:40:08 AM PDT by SeekAndFind (look at Michigan, it will)
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To: SeekAndFind

Nothing mentioned about zinc from the piece above. Without zinc, HCQ is not as effective


8 posted on 04/19/2020 6:40:53 AM PDT by Chauncey Gardiner
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To: SeekAndFind

The modern treatment of immune mediated rheumatic disorders such as lupus and rheumatoid arthritis is to inhibit the immune system. When treating COVID-19 with hydroxychloroquine, there appears to be a beneficial effect as evidenced by observed clinical outcomes and a sharp decline in C Reactive Protein which is a marker of inflammation. It is really unknown just how hydroxychloroquine may work but apparently it mitigates the “cytokine storm” which seems to “drown” and injure the respiratory tissue. In any case good frontline physicians will use what they have. The scientific explanations will come later. Democratic governors must stop putting impediments to the timely prescription and dispensing of hydroxychloroquine.


9 posted on 04/19/2020 6:42:57 AM PDT by allendale (.)
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To: SeekAndFind

You’ve got to have the zinc, too. Hydroxychloroquine doesn’t work by itself.


10 posted on 04/19/2020 6:44:21 AM PDT by jacknhoo (Luke 12:51; Think ye, that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, no; but separation.)
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To: SeekAndFind

dozens out of nearly 5,000 taking it.


11 posted on 04/19/2020 6:45:56 AM PDT by a fool in paradise (The fish wrap media promoted Obama's Benghazi lies in 2012.)
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To: Chauncey Gardiner

re: Nothing mentioned about zinc from the piece above. Without zinc, HCQ is not as effective

Are you referring to Zinc plus HCQ as TREATMENT for Covid-19 patients?

Or are you saying that to be an effective protective against Covid-19 infection, one must ALSO take Zinc together with HCQ?

People in this thread don’t bother to read the article. It is not talking about treatment but PROTECTION AGAINST INFECTION.


12 posted on 04/19/2020 6:46:23 AM PDT by SeekAndFind (look at Michigan, it will)
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To: SeekAndFind

The perfect is the enemy of the good.


13 posted on 04/19/2020 6:47:05 AM PDT by MortMan (Shouldn't "palindrome" read the same forward and backward?)
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To: jacknhoo

RE: You’ve got to have the zinc, too. Hydroxychloroquine doesn’t work by itself.

Are you referring to Zinc plus HCQ as TREATMENT for Covid-19 patients?

Or are you saying that to be an effective protective against Covid-19 infection, one must ALSO take Zinc together with HCQ?

People in this thread don’t bother to read the article. It is not talking about treatment but PROTECTION AGAINST INFECTION.


14 posted on 04/19/2020 6:47:28 AM PDT by SeekAndFind (look at Michigan, it will)
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To: SeekAndFind

approx 5,000 were taking it and 189 got it (out of nearly 9,500 surveyed).


15 posted on 04/19/2020 6:48:27 AM PDT by a fool in paradise (The fish wrap media promoted Obama's Benghazi lies in 2012.)
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To: MortMan

RE: The perfect is the enemy of the good.

So, you are saying that HCQ is not a perfect protective against Covid-19 but is a protective most of the time nonetheless?

Does this apply to Malaria as well?


16 posted on 04/19/2020 6:48:55 AM PDT by SeekAndFind (look at Michigan, it will)
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To: TheConservativeBanker

death is also a side effect of hydroxychloroquine. The new drugs are being used in very ill patients on ventilators where hydroxychloroquine is far less than impressive.


17 posted on 04/19/2020 6:50:28 AM PDT by Mom MD
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To: SeekAndFind

How many were infected and developed severe symptoms is the relevant question during the pandemic. If it is only how many were diagnosed, then the flu shot should be banned, as it is considered only (at best) 40% effective.


18 posted on 04/19/2020 6:50:47 AM PDT by MortMan (Shouldn't "palindrome" read the same forward and backward?)
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To: euclid216

Better question is: what is the percentage of people who are not on HCL who get the virus?

If that number is 40 to 50% then clearly HCL is having a huge positive impact. 7% is better than 50%


19 posted on 04/19/2020 6:50:48 AM PDT by Titus-Maximus (The trouble with socialism is that you soon run out of other people's zoo animals to eat.)
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To: a fool in paradise

RE: approx 5,000 were taking it and 189 got it (out of nearly 9,500 surveyed).

Some questions come to mind:

* What about the 9,500 - 5,000 = 4,500 ? Did they take nothing?

* Of the 5,000 - 189 = 4,811 who DID NOT get it, were they similarly exposed to Covid-19 as the other 189?


20 posted on 04/19/2020 6:51:12 AM PDT by SeekAndFind (look at Michigan, it will)
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