Coimbatore: Amid rising Coronavirus cases in the country, the national task force for COVID-19 constituted by Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) has recommended hydroxy-chloroquine, as a preventive medication for high-risk population and preQ-prophylaxis.
Coimbatore: Amid rising Coronavirus cases in the country, the national task force for COVID-19 constituted by Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) has recommended hydroxy-chloroquine, as a preventive medication for high-risk population.
Not understanding the crux of the recommendation in detail many media outlets carried this recommendation as though it is a preventive drug for Coronavirus.
The HealthCare community's worst fears came true today when a 4-year-old child from Coimbatore was administered this drug by her parents, as a preventive measure to combat COVID-19.
According to sources, the child has experienced uneasiness and nausea, immediately after she was administered the pediatric dose of hydroxy-chloroquine. Shortly, her complications worsened and the child collapsed.
Apparently the cardiac toxicity of the drug has taken its toll on the child and she is now admitted in the ICU of a private hospital in Saravanampatti, Coimbatore.
The incident has set the alarm bells ringing, and warned people to abstain from self medicating hydroxy-chloroquine as a preventive measure to safeguard from Coronavirus infection.
Proposed usage of hydroxy-chloroquine drug
It all started, when US President Donald Trump shared these drugs as a remedy in his twitter profile without adequate clinical trials for Coronavirus. The medical fraternity has been split in its opinion as not enough clinical trials have been performed and this drug comes with quite a bit of clinical toxicities like retinal blindness, cardiac arrest and sudden dip in blood sugar levels.
So, it goes without saying that these drugs should never be self medicated. Moreover, these are not new drugs. They have been used to cure malaria and some conditions of HIV, under medical supervision.
According to the advisory by ICMR, hydroxy-chloroquine should be given to high risk population -- asymptomatic healthcare workers involved in the care of suspected or confirmed cases of Covid-19 and asymptomatic household contacts of laboratory confirmed cases.
With ICMR sending out a public notice about the drug, many media outlets misconstrued the notice as a drug prescription for Coronavirus. With this media coverage, many in the public have hoarded this drug for personal use without any doctor prescription.
The protocol recommended by the National Task Force has been approved by the Drug Controller General of India (DGCI) for restricted use in emergency situations.
What is hydroxy-chloroquine?
Hydroxychloroquine is used to treat or prevent malaria, a disease caused by parasites that enter the body through the bite of a mosquito. Malaria is common in areas such as Africa, South America, and Southern Asia.
Researchers have tried this drug in HIV and several ongoing clinical trials have attempted to establish the use chloroquine analogs in the prevention or treatment of several viral infections, including hepatitis, rabies, chikungunya, Ebola virus disease, influenza A and B, and dengue viral infections. A limiting factor in most of these studies were the high levels of chloroquine required inside the cells for meaningful action against virus entry. This meant overall increase in drug toxicity.
How toxic is chloroquine and HCQ?
The exact frequency of side effects, called adverse reactions in medical parlance, is not reported. The life-threatening toxicities are mainly heart related in the form of disturbed heart rhythm and heart failure. Patients are usually advised ECGs before and during treatment.
The other much talked about toxicity is irreversible blindness from retinal toxicity, though it is usually not seen in short duration treatment. Patients undergo retinal examination before treatment and yearly. It is not given to patients who already have some retinal diseases.
It is also reported to cause fatal lowering of blood glucose, decrease in blood counts and loss of muscle strength. Increased suicidal tendencies and depression are other serious toxicities.
Needless to say, self medication without a proper indication is dangerous.