The antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine, touted as a miracle cure for COVID-19, appeared to have had it’s Titanic moment, at least according to a study published in the Lancet. The retrospective study analyzed the records of patients from 6 continents and found that not only was hydroxychloroquine not an effective treatment, its cardiac side effects were potentially dangerous. But this was just the tip of the iceberg, and the results were disastrous.

The Study

Co-authored by by Lauren Philippi, Department of Human Health and Nutritional Sciences, University of Guelph

In late December 2019 an outbreak of pneumonia cases arose in Wuhan, China. Patients presented with an acute respiratory illness linked to the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19). COVID-19 is a betacoronavirus, similar to Human Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) coronaviruses. SARS and MERS both cause severe respiratory disease. Although COVID-19 is primarily considered a respiratory virus, there is a strong link to cardiovascular disease.

COVID-19 — by the numbers