Of the 82,000 Covid-19 infections worldwide, more than 33,000 cases have been cured of the disease. A cure obtained until then thanks to a care of the patients by the medical personnel. For the moment, no treatment has proven its effectiveness … But there is one molecule that is currently being studied in the scientific community: chloroquine. This malaria treatment has shown signs of effectiveness against the new coronavirus. “It is an antiviral and an immunosuppressant, it can reduce the reaction of our body against the disease“, explains Marc Van Ranst, virologist at KULeuven.
Hope for treatment …
The possible action of this treatment is “great news“ for Professor Didier Raoult, director of the Mediterranean Infection Institute in Marseille. This French specialist has treated 4000 patients with chloroquine. He therefore knows this treatment very well. “I know how it circulates in the blood and I know how to handle it“, adds the professor.
►►► Read also: Pr. Herman Goossens: “What is happening in Italy is a decisive moment”
According to a preliminary study carried out in China and published on February 19, clinical trials on more than 100 patients are carried out in ten Chinese hospitals and the results are encouraging. “It has a positive impact on patients who are sterilized, continues Professor Raoult. Viruses disappear after 4 days if chloroquine is given. It has an effect on patients on several parameters: hospitalization and the duration of the fever in particular.“
… but no runaway
This treatment is available in all countries of the world and it is inexpensive, according to specialists. This is good news, but several international experts refuse to get carried away. This study has not yet has been validated by a committee of scientific experts. “We must wait for the research in progress in China, the studies are not finalized“, puts Marc Van Ranst into perspective. When results are published, then the molecule can be used, according to the Belgian specialist. But a French doctor qualifies. “You have to be extremely wary and careful, notes François Maignen, French doctor of pharmacy and public health specialist. Once the results are available, a publication phase is needed […] for data to be critically evaluated“by experts, including scientists from the World Health Organization (WHO), he said.
Chloroquine against SARS
This is not the first time that the molecule has been considered in the treatment of an epidemic. Already in 2004, researchers at KULeuven, including Professor Van Ranst, studied this drug to fight against the SARS epidemic (note: severe acute respiratory syndrome). “The goal of our research in 2004 was to find drugs that already existed and that did not have side effects“, underlines the Belgian professor. But at the time, the epidemic was gone before the patients were even given the drug.
Other avenues are also being explored. “We have a few HIV drugs that also seem to be active against the coronavirus“, adds virologist Marc Van Ranst. These molecules are currently being tested.
What about a vaccine?
If chloroquine was found to be effective against Covid-19, research on a vaccine should not be abandoned. Several companies and several countries are currently working on a treatment. “To prevent disease, the vaccine is the best solution“, insists virologist Marc Van Ranst. The French professor Didier Raoult is more skeptical. “The vaccine response to a health infection crisis, I’ve never seen it work“He believes. According to him, health crises are often limited.”It is not uninteresting that people work on the development of the vaccine, but in our countries, between the moment when we think that a vaccine works and the moment when we are likely to use it, years ago, continues Didier Raoult. In a year, it is not known whether there will still be Chinese coronavirus.“
►►► Read also: Can the arrival of spring dampen the expansion of the coronavirus?
Professor Raoult therefore pleads for the use of chloroquine. “If we can use a drug that we know is toxic and that costs nothing, rather than using a new molecule that is very expensive and that has never been used on a certain scale, we will use the simplest. I agree with this point of view“, he explains. “I think we will find new, more effective molecules“, believes, for its part, the Belgian virologist Marc Van Ranst.
Chloroquine is in many pharmacies, but you have to be careful. The molecule is “very dangerous in case of overdose“insists François Maignen. It is essential to consult a doctor before taking the drug, especially since, for the moment, the tests are only at an intermediate stage.
–
