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What we know about hydroxychloroquine against covid-19 2:23
(CNN) - The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has removed from its website guidelines for doctors on how to prescribe two anti-malaria drugs that President Donald Trump has touted as possible treatments for the new coronavirus.
Trump has been pressing federal health officials to make hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine drugs more widely available, despite little reliable evidence that they are effective in treating the virus.
The CDC's updated guide, published Tuesday, is shorter and no longer provides information on drug dosages.
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CNN has contacted CDC for comment.
Hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine have not been approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat coronavirus. However, on Saturday, the FDA issued an emergency use authorization to distribute the two drugs from the national reserve for the treatment of hospitalized patients with covid-19.
The CDC says the drugs are under investigation in clinical trials.
"Anecdotal reports suggest that these medications may offer some benefit in treating hospitalized patients with covid-19," said the US Department of Health and Human Services. (HHS) in a statement Sunday.
But some experts, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, have warned the administration that the drug is untested and that there are dangers in its promotion before the data supports its effectiveness.
There was heated disagreement at the White House over the weekend about the effectiveness of untested drugs.
States are accumulating doses of medications
Although the drugs have not yet been shown to be safe to prevent or treat the coronavirus, some states are collecting doses for their patients.
The pharmaceutical company Amneal has donated 200,000 doses of hydroxychloroquine to the Georgia Department of Public Health, US Representative Doug Collins said Tuesday. He described donation as a step toward treatment.
“Proud to have worked with Amneal Pharmaceuticals, Inc. to help secure 200,000 doses of hydroxychloroquine for @GaDPH! This drug could save thousands of lives across our state. Thank you, Amneal, for this amazing donation! ”Collins tweeted.
Florida is scheduled to receive a million doses of the drug on Wednesday, Governor Ron DeSantis said. DeSantis praised the drug, warning that the virus is so new that there are no approved treatments yet.
Does hydroxychloroquine really work against covid-19? 2:17Who could benefit from them?
Under the FDA emergency use authorization, hydroxychloroquine can be administered to hospitalized patients weighing less than 50 kg.
But in a Facebook Live conversation with Mark Zuckerberg and Dr. Priscilla Chan on Tuesday, the virologist and infectious disease specialist, Dr. Don Ganem, asked if the drug would be more effective if administered to patients with milder symptoms.
"Even if it works, is the very sick person in the ICU the best person to use that drug?" Ganem said.
By the time patients are often transferred to the ICU, they generally have been infected for many days and viral replication is already declining, Ganem said. He reasoned that it might be more effective to treat patients earlier, when their symptoms are mild and in the peak period of viral replication.
With so many lives at stake, Ganem said it makes sense to want to use all available tools, but emphasized the importance of conducting clinical trials alongside the use of the drug.
coronavirus