RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – China’s National Health Commission has recommended the use of chloroquine in the treatment of Covid-19 patients, reports the South China Morning Post. In its first update of its “treatment guidelines” since March, the body cautions:
“Some drugs may demonstrate a certain degree of efficacy for treatment in clinical observation trials, but there are no effective antiviral drugs confirmed by double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trials.”
In addition to chloroquine, “other recommended antiviral drugs include Interferon and Arbidol, but Ribavirin should be used in combination with Lopinavir or Ritonavir,” the committee published.
According to the South China Morning Post, “China is the first country to recommend the use of chloroquine to treat patients with Covid-19.”
On the other hand, the commission published that “the use of hydroxychloroquine, or its combined use with azithromycin, is not recommended.”
The newspaper interviewed David Hui Shu-cheong, a professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, who specializes in respiratory medicine, who said that chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine are similar, and called the guidelines “contradictory”.
Chloroquine is the most recommended drug against Covid-19 by President Jair Bolsonaro, while Hydroxychloroquine is the most recommended medicine by the American president, Donald Trump.
Source: Folha de S.Paulo