Department of Clinical Pharmacy, Care Institute of Medical Sciences, Science City Road, Sola, Ahmedabad-380060, India
Full Length Research Paper
Safety and efficacy of hydroxychloroquine as a prophylactic treatment against coronavirus disease-19 in health-care workers
Author(s): Parloop Bhatt*, Vishva Patel, Prachi Shah and Keyur Parikh
Background: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a rapidly emerging virus responsible for the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic with no known effective prophylaxis. We investigated whether Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) could prevent SARS CoV-2 in Health Care Workers (HCW) at high-risk of exposure.
Method: This voluntary observational study for the prevention and treatment of COVID- 19 was conducted at a tertiary care center, from 12th June to 12th October 2020(total 16 weeks). All consented asymptomatic HCW’s of CIMS hospital were administered 400 mg HCQ twice a day on day one followed by 400 mg once weekly to be taken with meals up to 16 weeks. Data collected included OPD registration, risk assessment, medical and family history (related to COVID), physical examination and vitals, pulse oximetry, ECG (pre and post HCQ), dr.. Read More»