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The largest Brazilian study to date on the efficacy of antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine in the treatment of Covid-19 has concluded that the medicine is not effective in combating the disease in mild and moderate patients.
The study was carried out by six leading Brazilian hospitals alongside the Brazilian Clinical Research Institute (BCRI) and Brazilian Intensive Therapy Research Network (BRICNet). A sample of 655 Covid-19 patients was split into three groups — one receiving hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin, another receiving hydroxychloroquine, and one receiving neither — and the death and discharge rates between all groups were almost identical, suggesting the drugs have a negligible effect on the virus.
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has been a staunch advocate for the prescription and use of hydroxychloroquine to treat Covid-19, claiming to have taken it himself after he tested positive for coronavirus two weeks ago. He has championed the drug as a potential cure for the disease, despite a lack of medical evidence to support his hypothesis.
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