Malaria drug use may have caused 17,000 deaths during first wave of COVID - study

Antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine could cause almost 17 thousand deaths in six countries during the first wave of the pandemic COVID-19. With reference to new research results writes Euronews, reports UNN.

Hydroxychloroquine was presented during the pandemic as a miracle cure by a fraction (albeit a clear minority) of health professionals, the article notes.

The scientists were also supported by some politicians, notably French President Emmanuel Macron and then US President Donald Trump.

And while the use of the drug has been controversial due to a lack of research the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued an emergency use authorization for hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) in March 2020, but withdrew it in June.

In particular, the drug has been found to cause serious side effects such as heart rhythm disturbances.

A new study published in Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapynow evaluates the consequences of off-label use of the drug.

Researchers examined studies conducted in France, the United States, Belgium, Italy, Spain, and Turkey from March 2020 through July 2020.

"HCQ use was associated with an 11 percent increase in mortality in a meta-analysis of randomized trials," the study notes, citing a meta-analysis published in 2021 Naturethat researchers used to calculate the number of deaths triggered by the drug.

The estimated number of excess deaths in European countries was: approximately 240 in Belgium, 199 in France, 1,822 in Italy and 1,895 in Spain.

"We should keep in mind that this is a crude estimate, as it concerns only a few countries over a short period, and that the total number of deaths is probably much higher," the researchers note.

At the same time, it is noted that the results should be interpreted with caution as these are statistical analyses. One limitation of the study was that in France, Turkey and Belgium in particular, data on the effects of the drug were incomplete.

Nevertheless, the researchers say, "This result argues in favor of tightly regulating access to prescriptions during future pandemics.