Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), said on Friday that theres no definitive proof that chloroquine, an anti-malaria drug, works against the CCP virus.
The top immunologist clarified that he didnt dismiss the effectiveness of chloroquine and is open to testing as its been suggested anecdotally that it may be effective.
“What I said it that we dont have definitive proof that it works. So what we need to do, since there are suggestions anecdotally that it works, try to get it available but to do it in the context of a protocol where we accomplish two things,” he said during an interview with Fox News. “We make something thats maybe hope and promising for someone. At the same time, we determine whether or not its safe and whether or not it actually does work. I wasnt dismissing it. I was saying we need to be careful.”
He mostly aligned with what he said during the White House Coronavirus Task Force briefing on Friday.
President Donald Trump said hes optimistic about the effectiveness of chloroquine during the briefing. The Coronavirus Task Force is talking with the governors about making the drug available, but theyre waiting for final approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
“It may work and it may not work,” he said. “I feel good about it. Thats all it is. Just a feeling.”
Fauci appeared to refer to the research (pdf) conducted by a group of French researchers who say the combination of hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin could change the test results for the CCP virus from positive to negative.
The research was conducted on a small group of 36 people, with 14 of them treated with hydroxychloroquine, 6 with hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin, and 20 in the control group.
The Epoch Times could not verify that the study was peer-reviewed.
The FDA announced on Thursday that they are investigating if chloroquine can be used to treat patients with mild-to-moderate COVID-19, the disease caused by the CCP virus, and potentially reduce the duration of symptoms and viral shedding.
They are also trying other approaches to discover a potential cure for the widespread disease, including an investigation into antiviral drug remdesivir from Gilead Sciences.
About 250 patients have been grRead More – Source
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