Also:
A
malaria drug did Covid-19 patients no good
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There’s bad news from an analysis of coronavirus patients at
Veterans Health Administration hospitals who were given hydroxychloroquine,
the malaria drug widely promoted (including
by President Trump) as a potential treatment for Covid-19.
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In fact, researchers found that death rates were higher for
patients who got the drug, either alone or in combination with an antibiotic,
than among those receiving standard care.
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Hydroxychloroquine has
not been shown to have antiviral effects in humans, though a laboratory study
suggested that it might. There has been speculation that the drug might make
patients’ symptoms less severe if they experience a “cytokine storm” — a
harmful overreaction by the body’s immune system.
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Researchers analyzed the medical records of 368 men with
confirmed coronavirus infections treated at the hospitals. About 28 percent
of those who received hydroxychloroquine died, they found, compared with 11
percent of those who did not receive it. They also found that the drug had
made no difference in whether patients wound up needing ventilators.
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