The ‘myth of Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) as post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) for the prevention of COVID-19’ is far from reality

The efficacy of Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) as post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) for the prevention of COVID-19 was contentious. In this randomized control double-blind clinical trial, asymptomatic individuals with direct contact with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 cases were randomized into PEP/HCQ (N = ...

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Published inScientific reports Vol. 13; no. 1; p. 378
Main Authors Dhibar, Deba Prasad, Arora, Navneet, Chaudhary, Deepak, Prakash, Ajay, Medhi, Bikash, Singla, Neeraj, Mohindra, Ritin, Suri, Vikas, Bhalla, Ashish, Sharma, Navneet, Singh, Mini P., Lakshmi, P. V. M., Goyal, Kapil, Ghosh, Arnab
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published London Nature Publishing Group UK 07.01.2023
Nature Publishing Group
Nature Portfolio
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Summary:The efficacy of Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) as post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) for the prevention of COVID-19 was contentious. In this randomized control double-blind clinical trial, asymptomatic individuals with direct contact with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 cases were randomized into PEP/HCQ (N = 574) and control/placebo (N = 594) group. The PEP/HCQ group received tablet HCQ 400 mg q 12 hourly on day one followed by 400 mg once weekly for 3 weeks, and the control/Placebo group received matching Placebo. The incidence of COVID-19 was similar (p = 0.761) in PEP [N = 24 out of 574, (4.2%)] and control [N = 27 out of 594, (4.5%)] groups. Total absolute risk reduction for the incidence of new-onset COVID-19 was -0.3% points with an overall relative risk of 0.91 (95% confidence interval, 0.52 to 1.60) and the number needed to treat (NNT) was 333 to prevent the incident of one case of COVID-19. The study found that, PEP with HCQ was not advantageous for the prevention of COVID-19 in asymptomatic individuals with high risk for SARS-CoV-2 infection. Though HCQ is a safer drug, the practice of irrational and indiscriminate use of HCQ for COVID-19 should be restrained with better pharmacovigilance.
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ISSN:2045-2322
2045-2322
DOI:10.1038/s41598-022-26053-w