Sweden has decided to abandon the use of chloroquine treatment to fight Covid-19. Doubts about its effectiveness and fears about side effects justified this decision.
- Swedish hospitals had adopted chloroquine to treat Covid-19
- This product will no longer be used in Sweden, which explains its decision by the observation of excessive side effects
Acclaimed worldwide, and while Emmanuel Macron met Professor Raoult at the origin of the chloroquine-based treatment, hydroxychloroquine was abandoned by Sweden. Swedish hospitals had adopted this treatment against Covid-19 but doubts about its effectiveness and fears about side effects led to its virtual abandonment outside clinical trials.
The cautious strategy
The decision to stop using the treatment with chloroquine, an antimalarial, began at the end of March at the Sahlgrenska hospital in Gothenburg, out of caution. “I think all clinics in Sweden started using this treatment when the first patients arrived.recounts Magnus Gisslén, professor of infectious diseases and doctor at the Sahlgrenska hospital. In Gothenburg, we were very careful from the start. We realized that the evidence of effectiveness was weak, apart from a Chinese study, however carried out without a control group, and the French study where hydroxychloroquine is combined with azithromycin, a study which we believe is is not sufficiently well done to demonstrate the effectiveness.”
The risks of side effects of the treatment, in particular at the cardiac and kidney level, ended up forcing the hospital to end the use of hydroxychloroquine. “We first decided to stop giving chloroquine to patients with kidney failure, then to stop giving it at all, even though we didn’t see any side effects in us.adds Magnus Gisslén. Colleagues, in Sweden and abroad, have informed us of suspicious cases, even if it is difficult to know if chloroquine was at the origin of the observed effects or if it was a consequence of the disease..”
Chloroquine still in the clinical trial tank
A choice and doubts shared by the Swedish Medicines Agency, the Läkemedelsverket, which, in a press release published on April 2, considers that “the data currently available do not allow strong conclusions to be drawn regarding the clinical effects and safety of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine in the treatment of patients with Covid-19.”
The other hospitals in the country were quick to follow Sahlgrenska Hospital, which has the largest infectious clinic in the country. “I don’t think a single hospital is using these drugs today.he says. The decision was a bit controversial at first, but soon the drug agency came up with its own recommendations, which convinced those who still doubted..” Clinical studies to try to find a treatment for Covid-19 continue to use chloroquine.
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