Five hospitals enrol for ICMR observational study on hydroxychloroquine

By Priyanka Sharma
New Delhi [India], May 19 : At least five hospitals across India have registered for a twelve week-long observational study on hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) being conducted by the Indian Council Medical Research (ICMR).
The purpose of the study is to find the efficacy of anti-malarial HCQ which is being used as a prophylaxis against the COVID-19 infection.
These five hospitals include AIIMS (Jodhpur), Apollo Hospital (Chennai), AIIMS (Patna), Maulana Azad Medical College and Sir Ganga Ram Hospital in Delhi.
"The idea is to analyse the effectiveness of HCQ as prophylaxis on healthcare workers dealing with COVID-19 cases. All the healthcare workers who would be involved in the study have to undergo a COVID-19 test before they participate. The side effects of the drug will be monitored and analyzed," said a scientist at ICMR.
Dr DS Rana, Chairman Board of Management at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, said they were participating in the study as per the guidelines of ICMR.
"We have state-of-the-art research laboratories and healthcare infrastructure. Doctors from the department of medicine and critical medicine division would be involved in the study," he said.
HCQ has been recommended as prophylaxis against coronavirus as per the national task force for COVID-19.
It is not a cure but this protocol has been approved by the national task force for selected individuals: (i) asymptomatic healthcare workers involved in the care of suspected or confirmed cases of COVID, (ii) asymptomatic household contacts of laboratory-confirmed cases, (iii) a combination of HCQ and Azithromycin to the patients with severe disease and requiring ICU management.