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RESEARCH PRODUCT

A systematic review on the efficacy and safety of chloroquine for the treatment of COVID-19

Mariachiara IppolitoGiulia IngogliaAndrea CortegianiAntonino GiarratanoSharon Einav

subject

medicine.medical_specialtyChinaCoronaviruPneumonia ViralPsychological interventionMEDLINEDiseaseCritical Care and Intensive Care MedicineWorld Health OrganizationArticle03 medical and health sciencesAntimalarialsBetacoronavirus0302 clinical medicineChloroquinePandemicmedicineHumansIntensive care medicinePandemicsClinical Trials as Topicbusiness.industrySARS-CoV-2Public healthCOVID-19030208 emergency & critical care medicineChloroquinePneumoniaCOVID-19 Drug TreatmentClinical trialCoronavirusClinical researchTreatment Outcome030228 respiratory systembusinessCoronavirus Infectionsmedicine.drug

description

Purpose COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) is a public health emergency of international concern. As of this time, there is no known effective pharmaceutical treatment, although it is much needed for patient contracting the severe form of the disease. The aim of this systematic review was to summarize the evidence regarding chloroquine for the treatment of COVID-19. Methods PubMed, EMBASE, and three trial Registries were searched for studies on the use of chloroquine in patients with COVID-19. Results We included six articles (one narrative letter, one in-vitro study, one editorial, expert consensus paper, two national guideline documents) and 23 ongoing clinical trials in China. Chloroquine seems to be effective in limiting the replication of SARS-CoV-2 (virus causing COVID-19) in vitro. Conclusions There is rationale, pre-clinical evidence of effectiveness and evidence of safety from long-time clinical use for other indications to justify clinical research on chloroquine in patients with COVID-19. However, clinical use should either adhere to the Monitored Emergency Use of Unregistered Interventions (MEURI) framework or be ethically approved as a trial as stated by the World Health Organization. Safety data and data from high-quality clinical trials are urgently needed.

yearjournalcountryeditionlanguage
2020-03-01Journal of Critical Care
10.1016/j.jcrc.2020.03.005http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC7270792