Open AccessHydroxychloroquine as prophylaxis or treatment for COVID-19: What does the evidence say?
Author(s) -
Praveen Balabaskaran Nina,
A. P. Dash
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
indian journal of public health/indian journal of public health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.381
H-Index - 26
eISSN - 2229-7693
pISSN - 0019-557X
DOI - 10.4103/ijph.ijph_496_20
Subject(s) - hydroxychloroquine , covid-19 , medicine , virology , pre exposure prophylaxis , pandemic , intensive care medicine , betacoronavirus , medline , coronavirus infections , human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) , political science , outbreak , infectious disease (medical specialty) , disease , syphilis , men who have sex with men , law
Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ), an antimalarial has been proposed as possible treatment for coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19). India has approved the use of HCQ for prophylaxis of asymptomatic health workers treating suspected or confirmed COVID-19 cases, and asymptomatic household contacts of confirmed patients. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued Emergency Use Authorization for the use of HCQ to treat COVID-19 in adolescents and adults. In this review, we go over the available evidence for and against HCQ's use as prophylaxis or treatment for COVID-19, especially in the Indian context.