BALTIMORE, Maryland: An Arizona man died, and his wife was hospitalised, after taking a form of chloroquine, which US President Donald Trump has touted as an effective treatment for COVID-19.



As a medicinal chemist who specialises in the development of antiviral drugs and work on the coronaviruses for seven years, I am concerned about the sweeping statements the president has been making regarding the use of chloroquine or the closely related hydroxychloroquine, both antimalarial drugs, as cures for COVID-19.


Chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine are both US Food and Drugs Administration-approved antimalarial drugs that have been in use for many years.


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South Korea was hit by the Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) in 2015 which saw consumption and tourism decline.


So the science is real, and a number of labs around the world are now investigating these drugs and testing them in clinical trials in the US, France and China.



It is still unclear how the chloroquines (or any antimalarial drug) would work against COVID-19, which is a virus. Malaria is caused by plasmodium parasites that are spread by mosquitoes, whereas COVID-19 is caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

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FILE PHOTO: A nasal ventilator is pictured as a patient suffering from coronavirus disease is treat

A nasal ventilator is pictured as a patient suffering from coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is treated in a pulmonology unit at the hospital in Vannes, France, March 20, 2020. (Photo: REUTERS/Stephane Mahe)




But you absolutely should not take any of these drugs to ward off the coronavirus. Chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine have not been appropriately evaluated in controlled studies, not to mention that they have numerous and, in some cases, very deadly side effects.


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So until these or any drugs have been shown to be effective against SARS-CoV-2 in clinical trials and have been approved by authorities, no one should be self-medicating.



Katherine Seley-Radtke is Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry and President-Elect of the International Society for Antiviral Research, University of Maryland, Baltimore County. This commentary first appeared on The Conversation.

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