Ignore Donald Trump and his cure ideas for Covid-19

Letters are still coming in from readers asking me if they should buy hydroxychloroquine, also known as chloroquine, off the internet. One even quoted “Professor” Trump saying it’s “very powerful”, “a gift from god” with “very encouraging early results”.

- DR MIRIAM STOPPARD

Despite the views of the US President, my answer is you should definitely not buy it. Here’s why.

Chloroquine is approved (licenced) to treat malaria, rheumatoid arthritis and lupus. While it’s previously been tested in labs against a number of viruses, including SARS and found to inhibit their growth, there’s been no success in animal models.

In small uncontrolled trials, the drug has been tested against Covid-19 and reported as “highly effective”, but the evidence is sketchy, unreliable and much of the data is unpublished.