Coronavirus: anti-malarial drug effective to fight infection, says top Bahraini health official

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Hind Al Soulia - Riyadh - A top health official in Bahrain said on Tuesday that the use of an anti-malarial drug to treat existing cases of the coronavirus had proved effective in the kingdom.

Dr Mohammed Al Khalifa, chairman of the national medical team to address coronavirus, told the Bahrain News Agency that hydroxychloroquine had proved effective in the recovery of “a number" of cases.

The drug, which was discovered in 1934, lessened the proportion of the virus and contributed to the decline of its symptoms and reduced its complications, Dr Al Khalifa said.

Bahrain is one of the first countries in the world to use the drug to treat Covid-19.

The drug is also used as basic treatment for malaria, rheumatoid arthritis and lupus.

Hydroxychloroquine was also found to be effective at treating Sars in the early 2000s.

Dr Al Khalifa said Bahrain used hydroxychloroquine on February 26, 2020, after discovering the first existing case of the virus in the country on February 24.

He said Bahrain’s national medical team used the drug after it was successful in treating the infection in China and South Korea.

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But many are sceptical of the efficacy of the drug and say it is unsafe.

The chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine drugs are known collectively as chloroquine phosphate, which is also used to clean fish tanks.

US President Donald said the drugs, which could be obtained on prescription in America, were potential game changers in the fight against the virus.

But earlier on Tuesday, a man in his sixties died in the US after ingesting chloroquine phosphate. He was Phoenix, Arizona.

His wife, also in her sixties, is in a critical condition after taking the chemical, said Banner Health, which treated the couple.

The wife told NBC news that they saw Mr Trump “on every channel”, and that he said that “that this was safe”.

On Monday, Jordan announced it was starting a clinical trial of hydroxychloroquine in patients with coronavirus, with test also being conducted in the US, Europe and China.

But health officials in Nigeria have issued a warning about chloroquine after three people in the country overdosed on it.

Updated: March 25, 2020 02:16 AM

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