Chloroquine no miracle cure

The largest study yet into a malaria drug touted by President Trump as a treatment for coronavirus has found no evidence that it helps patients, reports The Washington Post. In fact, the researchers noted there were more deaths among those given hydroxychloroquine than among those who received standard care. The study involved 368 male patients in Veterans Affairs hospitals around the U.S. Just over half were given hydroxychloroquine, either on its own or in combination with the antibiotic azithromycin. The death rate among those administered hydroxychloroquine was about 28 percent, and 22 percent for those given the drug combination. Patients who received routine care alone had a death rate of 11 percent. Separate research in Brazil into hydroxychloroquine had to be halted last month after a quarter of recipients developed potentially fatal heart rhythm problems. The U.S. study has not yet been peer reviewed, and the National Institutes for Health, which partly funded the work, says there is not yet enough evidence to recommend for or against hydroxychloroquine’s use. Still, the authors say, their findings “highlight the importance of awaiting the results of ongoing prospective, randomized, controlled studies before widespread adoption of these drugs.”

School of Medicine, tells USA Today. So-called Covid toes typically afflict patients who aren’t exhibiting any other symptoms—much as the loss of taste and smell has been seen in otherwise asymptomatic patients. In some people, the lesions disappear within a week to 10 days without any other Covid-19 symptoms manifesting; other patients have gone on to develop respiratory symptoms. Covid toes appear to be more prevalent among children and young adults, a population more likely to be asymptomatic or have milder symptoms than older people, possibly because they have better immune systems. It’s unclear what causes the lesions; scientists think the most likely explanation is that they’re the result of an inflammatory response.