TOPLINE
The U.S. has shipped 2 million doses of antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine to Brazil in efforts to help the world’s second worst-affected country combat coronavirus, and as the nations begin joint research on whether the drug is an effective treatment against the virus.
WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 30: U.S. President Donald Trump
KEY FACTS
The White House said on Sunday that the drug will be used to help protect medical workers in Brazil against the virus, as well as to treat people who become infected.The U.S. is also donating 1,000 ventilators.
The drug has been touted by Trump, and last month the President revealed he was taking the drug prophylactically.
There is little to no existing evidence that the antimalarial drug is an effective treatment for COVID-19.
France banned its prescription except in clinical trials, while the US Food and Drug Administration has warned that its use to treat COVID-19 can cause heart arrhythmia.
The biggest observational analysis so far of the drug’s effect on coronavirus patients last month revealed that the drug, when used in COVID-19 patients, can increase the risk of death and abnormal heart rhythms. But that data was analysed from hospital records and was not a laboratory study.
The results were published in medical journal The Lancet in May, but has since been disputed by more than 100 scientists who questioned the data.
Several clinical trials are underway worldwide to test whether antimalarial drugs like hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine can help combat coronavirus, while some researchers are also working to determine whether the drug can shield health workers from the infection.
Big number
Brazil now has at least 514,000 confirmed coronavirus cases, while nearly 30,000 people have died, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
News peg
Coronavirus infections in Brazil have skyrocketed, with the South American country now the second worst-hit nation in the world after the U.S. Over the weekend, Brazil surpassed France to record the fourth-highest death toll in the world. Right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro has downplayed how serious the virus is, and has previously slammed social distancing measures as “poison” and urged citizens to return to work.
Key background
Hydroxychloroquine is used to treat malaria, as well as lupus and rheumatoid arthritis. Without any approved treatment for coronavirus, some doctors around the world have turned to hydroxychloroquine and antimalarial drugs to treat patients, after limited laboratory studies found the drug might block coronavirus from entering cells.
Further reading
France Says No To Hydroxychloroquine Prescription After Lancet Study (Forbes)
Scientists Question Validity of Major Hydroxychloroquine Study (New York Times)
