A February clinical trial by Wuhan doctors supports Marseille infectious disease expert Professor Didier Raoult's recommendations. Researchers also emphasize using hydroxychloroquine early, not in severe cases.
Chloroquine treatment has sparked intense debate. Professor Raoult's positions have divided opinions, with strong supporters and critics alike. In this context, researchers from Renmin Hospital in Wuhan, China, published a clinical trial on the medRxiv preprint platform on March 31, 2020—results that align with Professor Raoult's views.
Conducted from February 4 to 28, 2020, the study included 62 patients with COVID-19. Participants were divided into two comparable groups of 31 patients each (mean age 45 years, balanced male/female ratio). The first group received hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) at 200 mg twice daily for five days. The second group got standard symptomatic treatment for fever, cough, and bacterial superinfection risk.
By day 5, 80.6% of the HCQ group showed symptom reduction—significantly faster than the 54.8% in the control group. Notably, severe cases were excluded, aligning with Professor Raoult's longstanding point that the treatment is ineffective in advanced stages.
As a preprint, the study awaits peer review and should be interpreted cautiously. Results from the European Discovery trial, which includes chloroquine, are expected soon.
Professor Raoult quickly addressed the findings in a video from IHU Méditerranée Infection in Marseille:
“The study shows that in our target group—moderately ill patients diagnosed early—hydroxychloroquine has significant success. Be careful: when it's too late, it's too late. That is, when people are in intensive care with respiratory distress or need intubation, it's no longer time for antivirals.
We know this with flu treatments—they work in the first two days. (…) Viruses must be fought at the start; once lesions form, they become somewhat irreversible, and we can't stop them.”
