If you thought hydroxychloroquine is a miracle cure for COVID-19, think again. A new study finds that the malaria drug does not affect the coronavirus. Moreover, it doesn’t even prevent you from catching COVID.
COVID-19 Cures
Gizmodo reports that the study involved health workers who might have gotten exposed to the virus. For the research, they had to take both the malaria drug and a placebo.
No evidence that hydroxychloroquine can prevent covid-19, concludes new study https://t.co/dDUIjSjQCy pic.twitter.com/VTLzuLiXmF
— Gizmodo (@Gizmodo) October 1, 2020
Published in JAMA Internal Medicine, the study looked at 125 health workers. They mixed up the subjects. Afterward, they started giving the workers either 600mg of the malaria drug or a placebo for eight weeks. Before joining the research, the workers tested negative for COVID-19.
After four weeks, the subjects went through testing. They got tested again after eight weeks.
COVID-19 Study Results
After the study, the researchers found that 6.3% of the people who received the malaria drug tested positive for COVID-19. On the other hand, 6.6% of the people who got the placebo caught the coronavirus. The infected patients showed mild symptoms or no symptoms at all.
Since the researchers found hardly any difference between the results, they ended the test early. Gizmodo adds that even if they continued the test, the results would still be the same.
What’s Next for COVID-19 Treatments?
The study might have finally proved that hydroxychloroquine is ineffective against COVID-19. As COVID-19 ravages the United States, they might have to look in other directions to find working COVID-19 treatments.