A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW OF TREATMENT OUTCOME OF ANTIMALARIAL DRUGS AGAINST SARS-COV-2
Ehtesham Zahoor*, Philip Oreoluwa, Usman Haider Bhatti, Sana Saleem Tariq, Feyiyemi Aina Afolabi, Syed Furqan Shah, Ranjeet Kumar, Tesfatsiyon Mammo Ergando, Anum Awais and Sarfaraz Ahmad
ABSTRACT
Objective: The pandemic of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has become a public health emergency of international concern. There is no effectual drug at this time, although there is a dire need for an effective treatment against severe COVID-19. The purpose of this systematic review was to summarize the evidence regarding chloroquine (CQ)/hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) for COVID-19 treatment. Methods: We searched EMBASE, PubMed and three trial Registries for studies on the use of CQ/HCQ against COVID-19. Results: We included 12 articles (two narrative letters, two in-vitro studies, three editorial, two expert consensus paper, two national guideline documents, one complete study) and 41 ongoing clinical trials worldwide. CQ/HCQ seems to be effective in limiting the replication of SARS-CoV-2 (the virus causing COVID-19) in vitro. Conclusions: Even though the safety of CQ/HCQ has been established in clinical practice and there is also sufficient pre-clinical rationale and evidence for its effective use in other conditions that validate clinical research on CQ/HCQ against COVID-19. Moreover, the recent results of the trials are also not in favor of HCQ use against covid-19. However, clinical use against COVID-19 should either adhere to the MEURI framework or only after ethical approval after clinical trials as specified by WHO. The current situation holds an urgently needed safety data from high-quality clinical trials.
Keywords: SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19, Chloroquine, Hydroxychloroquine, Pneumonia, Coronavirus.
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