His first study had been criticized for his methodology, but he is far from overwhelmed. Professor of microbiology Didier Raoult, director of the hospital-university institute (IHU) Méditerranée Infection in Marseille, published this Friday the results of a second part of the experiments carried out with his team on a group of patients with Covid-19 .
According to Professor Raoult, these results prove "the effectiveness of [their] protocol" as well as "the relevance of the combination of hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin", the two molecules given jointly to patients. The scientific community is, for the moment, more cautious and this treatment is only recommended by the Ministry of Health for severe cases and under very strict conditions.
Our two articles published this evening help to demonstrate:
1. The effectiveness of our protocol, on 80 patients.
2. The relevance of the association of hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin, thanks to research carried out in our P3 containment laboratory. https://t.co/Y91bsFOgB2
Here is what to remember from this new work carried out in Marseille.
80 patients
A total of 80 Covid-19 patients who entered the hospital between March 3 and March 21 participated in these trials, compared to 20 during the first tests conducted during the first half of March. These patients, aged 18 to 88, took Plaquenil, a drug based on hydroxychloroquine, combined with azithromycin. This combined formula is one of five treatments that are being tested in the European Discovery clinical trial, the first results of which are not expected before two weeks. In parallel, another clinical trial, called “Solidarity”, will soon start under the aegis of the World Health Organization (WHO).
According to Professor Raoult's team, 78 of these patients experienced rapid "clinical improvement" in their health and were able to leave intensive care after five days. Only one, 86, died and another, 74, is still in very serious condition.
"We die less in Marseille than elsewhere," said Friday evening on LCI Eric Chabrière, epidemiologist at the IHU Mediterranean. This collaborator of Prof. Raoult nevertheless recognized that it will be necessary to "analyze" the precise reasons, before the exchange becomes strained with the other doctors invited to the stage.
⚡️🏥 # coronavirus #chloroquine CLASH on @LCI / After announcing the publication of raw data from clinical trial # COVID19 of Pr #Raoult at @ IHU_Marseille, the words of his collaborator Pr Eric #Chabriere are qualified as " paranoid "by Dr Marie-Laure Alby ... pic.twitter.com/vryaYKyXFT
- Militant.André.D (@ Circonscripti18) March 28, 2020Disappearance of viral load in a few days
Another conclusion from the work carried out in Marseille: 83% of patients experienced a reduction in their viral load (obtained from the examination of nasal secretions) in seven days, and 93% after eight days.
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But this could also be explained by natural healing or by care in good sanitary conditions. And this, especially as some of the 80 patients are young (their median age is 52 years). They are therefore much less likely to be in serious condition or even to die from it, according to data on all patients in France.
Still no control group
One of the main pitfalls blamed on Pr Raoult's early work remains. Indeed, the medical team did not use a control group for its study, that is to say patients who are not subjected to the same treatment. Thus, we cannot assure scientifically that the patients hospitalized in Marseille and who were getting better benefited from the treatment which was given to them or from other factors.
Not yet published in a scientific journal
Unlike the first analyzes of 20 patients, those made public on Friday have not yet been published in the scientific literature. Sunday March 22, during his press briefing, the Director General of Health Jérôme Salomon had judged the results on the 20 patients, who had just been published in the journal International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents, "interesting".
Deeming it “urgent” to find a treatment for this Covid-19 disease and emphasizing the “negligible cost” of hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin, the team at IHU Méditerranée Infection calls for the conclusion of its work other scientific teams to "urgently evaluate" this technique.
VIDEO. What is chloroquine, a miracle cure for coronavirus according to Professor Raoult?