Hydroxychloroquine for the Prevention or Treatment of COVID-19

Prior to the pandemic, hydroxychloroquine was used for a wide variety of ailments due to a broad array of benefial effects.

The are numerous rationale for using HCQ as prophylaxis to prevent SARS-CoV-2 infection and as treatment for COVID-19 patients.

See also zinc ionophores

• A meta-analysis of 11 studies on Pre-exposure prophylaxis, all performed in India, and with highly similar protocols, showed statistically significant protective effects by those taking hydroxychloroquine. All six of the studies with information to determine dose dependence showed additional prophylactic effects for those taking hydroxychloroquine for at least six weeks, consistent with the hypothesis that hydroxychloroquine shows antiviral action.^{1) 2)}
• Mathew Crawford points out that among 56 studies examining the efficacy of hydroxychloroquine in the prevention of COVID-19, most published with a few in preprint, that 42 (75%) of them measured positive effects (the control arm suffered more COVID-19 than those given hydroxychloroquine prophylactically). Just 12 of the 14 negative studies examined effects on auto-immune patients. The large prophylaxis trials that were to be conducted in the U.S. were either canceled or positive, but stopped mid-trial prior to reaching statistical significance.³⁾
  • The HERO Trial (RCT) measured a 29.3% risk reduction, which was not quite statistically significant. The trial followed healthcare workers for only 30 days, which is less time than the studies out of India that found greater effect sizes. The HERO Trial intended to study 15,000 healthcare workers, but claimed recruiting difficulties, so only reported on 1,360. Authors reported conflicts of interest with numerous pharmaceutical corporations and biotechnology firms.
  • The Crown Coronation Trial, which was funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and run out of Washingtin University in St. Louis, was to study pre-exposure prophylaxis effects of hydroxychloroquine on 30,000 participants, but was changed to exclude hydroxychloroquine from its protocols.

• Yale Study

From early on in the COVID-19 pandemic, a large and often vicious propaganda campaign was waged against HCQ's use in the prevention or treatment of SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19.

Surgisphere: https://www.the-scientist.com/features/the-surgisphere-scandal-what-went-wrong--67955

Simpsons paradox Suboptimal trial protocols

A paper from July 28, 2020, by Jeffrey Aronson and Robin Ferner on behalf of the Oxford COVID-19 Evidence Service Team which concludes that;

“The hypothesis that the 4-aminoquinolines chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine may be beneficial in the treatment of COVID-19 is a weak one, based on poor mechanistic reasoning and inconsistent results of studies in vitro, in laboratory animals, and in humans.”