Chloroquine phosphate, a medicine very popular in Africa used to treat malaria, a flu-like symptom illness caused by mosquito, has been proven to treat Coronaravirus by a group of chiness scientist .In a multicenter clinical trials conducted in China , Gao et al,(2020) showed that Chloroquine phosphate, an old drug for treatment of malaria, showed apparent efficacy and acceptable safety against COVID-19 associated pneumonia.Gao et al,(2020) studies revealed that it also has potential broad-spectrum antiviral activities by increasing endosomal pH required for virus/cell fusion, as well as interfering with the glycosylation of cellular receptors of SARS-CoV (6,7). The anti-viral and anti-inflammatory activities of chloroquine may account for its potent efficacy in treating patients with COVID-19 pneumonia.
Chloroquine is a very cheap and safe drug that has been used for decades to treat Malaria.It is efficacious as an anti-inflammatory agent for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and lupus erythematosus.
Consequently, Gao et al,(2020) recommends Chloroquine phosphate to treat COVID-19 associated pneumonia in larger populations.The drug is recommended to be included in the next version of the Guidelines for the Prevention, Diagnosis, and Treatment of Pneumonia Caused by COVID-19 issued by the National Health Commission of the People's Republic of China for treatment of COVID-19 infection in larger populations in the future.
*Address correspondence to:Jianjun Gao, Department of Pharmacology, School of Pharmacy, Qingdao University, Qingdao, Shandong, China.E-mail: gaojj@qdu.edu.cnReleased online in J-STAGE as advance publication February19, 2020.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32074550/
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