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.
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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.