Laboratory technicians, seen behind a blue-tinted window, work on testing patient samples for the new coronavirus that causes COVID-19, at the Pathologists Lancet Kenya laboratory in Nairobi, Kenya. Photo: PTI

coronavirus, Kenya

Hydroxychloroquine

Hydroxychloroquine, coronavirus, covid-19, drug, drugs, pharma, pharmaceutical

chart

Doctors attend to a patient who had come for check-up at a fever hospital, set up in the wake of of COVID-19 outbreak, in Hyderabad. Photo: PTI

coronavirus, doctors

Donald trump

medicine

drug, medicine, pharmaceutical, pharma

Medical personnel help each other suit up at a federal COVID-19 drive-thru testing site.

Coronavirus

Representative Image

<div>
	Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) is a medication usually prescribed to prevent and treat malaria. It is also used to treat chronic skin inflammation and arthritis in patients whose symptoms have not improved with other treatments. Many countries have authorised the hospital use of HCQ or its use in clinical studies under the supervision of healthcare professionals. The drug is in the list of World Health Organization&#39;s essential medicines. In the context of the coronavirus pandemic, HCQ was touted to be effective and approved for use as a prophylactic drug by several countries, including India.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<gdiv id="ginger-floatingG-container" style="position: absolute; top: 0px; left: 0px;"><gdiv class="ginger-floatingG ginger-floatingG-closed" style="display: none;"><gdiv class="ginger-floatingG-disabled-main"><gdiv class="ginger-floatingG-bar-tool-tooltip">Enable Ginger</gdiv></gdiv><gdiv class="ginger-floatingG-offline-main"><gdiv class="ginger-floatingG-bar-tool-tooltip"><em>Cannot connect to Ginger</em> Check your internet connection<br />
or reload the browser</gdiv></gdiv><gdiv class="ginger-floatingG-enabled-main"><gdiv class="ginger-floatingG-bar"><gdiv class="ginger-floatingG-bar-tool ginger-floatingG-bar-tool-disable"><ga></ga><gdiv class="ginger-floatingG-bar-tool-tooltip">Disable in this text field</gdiv></gdiv><gdiv class="ginger-floatingG-bar-tool"><ga class="ginger-floatingG-bar-tool-edit">Edit</ga><gdiv class="ginger-floatingG-bar-tool-tooltip">Edit in Ginger</gdiv></gdiv><gdiv class="ginger-floatingG-bar-tool ginger-floatingG-bar-tool-mistakes"><ga></ga><gdiv class="ginger-floatingG-bar-tool-tooltip">Edit in Ginger</gdiv></gdiv></gdiv></gdiv><gdiv class="ginger-floatingG-contentPopup"><gdiv class="ginger-floatingG-contentPopup-wrap"><ga class="ginger-floatingG-contentPopup-close">&times;</ga><gdiv class="ginger-floatingG-contentPopup-frame"><iframe scrolling="no"></iframe></gdiv></gdiv></gdiv></gdiv></gdiv>

<div>
	<strong>What are the side effects of the drug?</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The most common side effects of Hydroxychloroquine are nausea, diarrhoea, stomach pain and vomiting, all of which often improve with time. The less common side effects include rash, changes in skin pigment (such as darkening or dark spots).</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Why is Hydroxychloroquine in the news?</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	Hydroxychloroquine made headlines recently after US President Donald Trump touted it as a &ldquo;gamechanger&rdquo; in the global fight against Covid-19.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	<strong>Can HCQ be used to treat Covid-19?</strong></div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	While Hydroxychloroquine is banned in some countries, it is promoted in others. Experts are divided over the use of this drug as a potential treatment for coronavirus. Some early studies showed that it might be able to shorten the duration of symptoms experienced by coronavirus patients, while others indicated it had no positive effect at all. Despite early signs of hope, many large-scale trials have not shown it to be effective for Covd-19 treatment.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The US food and drug administration (FDA), which had earlier approved emergency use of HCQ to treat adults and adolescents hospitalised with Covid-19, later revoked the decision citing clinical studies that did not find substantial benefits.</div>
<div>
	&nbsp;</div>
<div>
	The WHO, too, announced that the HCQ arm of the solidarity trial to find an effective Covid-19 treatment was being stopped. The decision was based on the trial that showed the drug did not result in reduction of mortality of hospitalised Covid-19 patients.</div>
<gdiv id="ginger-floatingG-container" style="position: absolute; top: 0px; left: 0px;"><gdiv class="ginger-floatingG ginger-floatingG-closed" style="display: none;"><gdiv class="ginger-floatingG-disabled-main"><gdiv class="ginger-floatingG-bar-tool-tooltip">Enable Ginger</gdiv></gdiv><gdiv class="ginger-floatingG-offline-main"><gdiv class="ginger-floatingG-bar-tool-tooltip"><em>Cannot connect to Ginger</em> Check your internet connection<br />
or reload the browser</gdiv></gdiv><gdiv class="ginger-floatingG-enabled-main"><gdiv class="ginger-floatingG-bar"><gdiv class="ginger-floatingG-bar-tool ginger-floatingG-bar-tool-disable"><ga></ga><gdiv class="ginger-floatingG-bar-tool-tooltip">Disable in this text field</gdiv></gdiv><gdiv class="ginger-floatingG-bar-tool"><ga class="ginger-floatingG-bar-tool-edit">Edit</ga><gdiv class="ginger-floatingG-bar-tool-tooltip">Edit in Ginger</gdiv></gdiv><gdiv class="ginger-floatingG-bar-tool ginger-floatingG-bar-tool-mistakes"><ga></ga><gdiv class="ginger-floatingG-bar-tool-tooltip">Edit in Ginger</gdiv></gdiv></gdiv></gdiv><gdiv class="ginger-floatingG-contentPopup"><gdiv class="ginger-floatingG-contentPopup-wrap"><ga class="ginger-floatingG-contentPopup-close">&times;</ga><gdiv class="ginger-floatingG-contentPopup-frame"><iframe scrolling="no"></iframe></gdiv></gdiv></gdiv></gdiv></gdiv>

Learn about what is Hydroxychloroquine, how it came into existence, latest news, photos, videos and more here at Business Standard.

Page 6 - Latest Updates on Hydroxychloroquine

Things to know about Hydroxychloroquine, the 'unproven' coronavirus drug?

Covid-19: India partially lifts ban on export of paracetamol and HCQ

Covid-19 impact: Hydroxychloroquine's share in pharma exports minuscule

Covid-19: Trump calls Modi, asks to release US order of hydroxychloroquine

Novartis scraps sale of assets including Covid-19 drug to Aurobindo Pharma

Govt moves to check over-the-counter selling of coronavirus drugs

Hydroxychloroquine for health officials caring for Covid-19 patients: ICMR

Laurus gets USFDA nod for drug that treats malaria, auto-immune disease