"Hydroxychloroquine, a less toxic derivative of chloroquine, is effective in inhibiting SARS-CoV-2 infection in vitro" https://www.nature.com/articles/s41421-020-0156-0
Lots of things work in vitro. Many things don't work when pumped into bodies.
However, this drug is all about politics, so i think it's pointless to discuss it here
> I also note that the half-maximal effective concentration (EC50) for blocking viral replication in vitro was 1.13 μM and the half-cytotoxic concentration (CC50) was greater than 100 μM. These are high concentrations for a drug, especially the CC50.
What I want to see are studies applying HCQ before the infection (that's what the Chinese measured, Lupus patients being immune), are at least when they were tested positive and sent home. Not when the shit already hit the fan, and the mucus is in the lungs causing bacterial infections all over. Because then it's too late already.
In-vitro results are worth following up on, but it is my understanding (as a non-expert) that it's very common that they don't pan out in actual humans. Turns out that human bodies and the way we interact with drugs are rather more complex than simple in-vitro situations.
It's really to soon to recommend either drug. Even with 0 side-effects there is a high risk of it being a massive waste of resources better spent elsewhere. This is just classic Trump afraid of being seen as not being on the top of the world in literally every situation.
"The similar drugs chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine have been pushed by Trump as a possible partial solution to the pandemic..."
[Folks, the point is not about Trump here. The point is that the article's author clearly knows that CQ and HCQ are separate but related drugs].
Ah, yes, Trump, the world's leading expert in antiviral medicine.
Stop politicizing this issue. Stop feeding the trolls and the demagogues. Let science find things out.
It says that the drugs are similar (which they are, both chemically and pharmacologically) and have both received some hype.
As for "politicizing the issue"...I'm a research scientist (and one who sometimes works with immunologists!). The data on CQ/HCQ make it look useless to me. The good trials show garbage effects and only the garbage "trials" seem to show any results. If you think insisting on careful analysis of data is political...good luck to you.