Med: COVID-19 patients treated with hydroxychloroquine have no survival benefits

11, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- An electronic medical record study from the U.SVeterans Health Administration Medical Center found that hydroxychloroquine -- whether used in combination with azithromycin -- does not reduce the risk of ventilator ventilation or death and is associated with longer hospital staysThe analysis, published recently in the medical journal Med, is the first comprehensive health system data in the United States to report the efficacy of hydroxychloroquine on COVID-19The study included data on 807 PATIENTs with COVID-19 who were hospitalized at the U.SDepartment of Veterans Affairs Medical CenterApproximately half (395 patients) were not treated with hydroxychloroquine during their stay in hospitalOf those treated with hydroxychloroquine, 198 were treated with hydroxychloroquine and 214 were treated with both hydroxychloroquine and azithromycinMost patients treated with hydroxychloroquine (approximately 86%) were treated with hydroxyl pyridine before using a mechanical ventilatorPhoto Source: After adjusting clinical characteristics, the researchers found that the risk of death was higher for any cause in the hydroxychloroquine-azithromycin group than in the hydroxychloroquine-azithromycin group, while the risk of hydroxychloroquine-amycommemrin group was not increasedThe researchers also found that the use of hydroxychloroquine was 33 percent longer and the duration of hospitalization in the azithromycin group was 38 percent longer than that of the non-hydroxychloroquine groupPre-existing diseases such as cardiovascular disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and diabetes are relatively common and similar in all groupsResearchers from the Va Health Care System in Columbia, the University of South Carolina and the University of Virginia School of Medicine reported that their study had the advantageof semost lying in early studiesFor example, because it uses data from comprehensive electronic medical records (VA informatics and computing infrastructure, or VINCI) rather than administrative health insurance claims data, they are able to apply strictly determined covariates and resultsIn addition, since the data come from an integrated national health-care system, the results of the study are less likely to appear in a single central or regional study of biasBut they also acknowledge the limitations of the study: The median age of the participants in their study was the same as that of other inpatients in the study -- 70 years old -- but because of the older age of the patients, the findings on COVID-19 may not apply to young people (although a quarter of the patients are between the ages of 22 and 60)In addition, the vast majority of patients in the study were male, nearly 96 percent, reflecting the demographic characteristics of veteransThe researchers also noted that these findings do not support the use of these drugs in outpatient treatment or as a preventive drug, but added that both the FDA and the National Institutes of Health recommend not to use hydroxychloroquine outside clinical trials(BioValleyBioon.com) Source: More Evidence of No Survival Benefit in COVID-19 Patients Receiving hydroychloroquine Magagnoli et al"Outcomes of hydroxyqueequee use in United States veterans with COVID-19." MedDOI: 10.1016/j.medj.2020.06.001.