Amid coronavirus outbreak anti malarial drugs hold out hope

New Delhi, Mar 21: In the midst of the coronavirus outbreak the anti malarial drugs chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine have come in handy.

China, Italy, South Korea and France have used the drug at scale with some success to treat patients who are severely ill. US President Donald Trump said that chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine will be rolled out first in New York.

"I think it's going to be very promising. It could be a game changer. And maybe not. Based on what I see, it could be a game changer. They're very powerful," Trump had said.
On Thursday a French study found that a combination of anti-malarial drugs and an antibiotic may be effective against coronavirus.

Chloroquine is a generic drug which is safe and cheap. It has been used to treat malaria since the World War II. India has so far approved the combination of two antiviral drugs used to treat HIV. They are lopinavir and ritonavir.

It may be recalled that on Wednesday the World Health Organisation had said that based on currently available information, it does not recommend against the use of ibuprofen.