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Chloroquine has shown apparent efficacy in treatment of Covid-19

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Re: Chloroquine has shown apparent efficacy in treatment of Covid-19

#231

Post by Joker_vD »

sdiq wrote: post #157
sdiq wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Growing up in Kenya in the 80s, it was common to take chloroquine as an anti-malarial medicine. I took it several times and the same applied to almost every other person I knew. Other than being a very bitter medicine, I do not remember any other side effects. This was commonly prescribed and available over the counter. However, in the 90s, doctors started encouraging people to take newer anti-malarial medicines beca…

I realise even quinine is in the list of essential medicines and also considered safe by the WHO.

There is a lot of stuff on this list that is definitely not "safe": for example, morphine, atropine.

Re: Chloroquine has shown apparent efficacy in treatment of Covid-19

#232

Post by dreamcompiler »

_n_b_ wrote: post #140
dreamcompiler wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Quinine is one of the most bitter substances in the world. In capsule form it's not used much any more for malaria because the taste of the dust on the outside of the capsule made people throw up. The amount in tonic water is tiny compared to what you need if you have malaria.

> Quinine is one of the most bitter substances in the world. It is even used as the normalizing reference index for a common bitterness index, at least according to Wikipedia.[1] > In capsule form it's not used much any more for malaria because the taste of the dust on the outside of the capsule made people throw up. I would suspect that it is not used widely anymore for prophylaxis because there is chloroquine-resis…

> chloroquine-resistant malaria parasites

Yes, that and other reasons. Quinine used to be over-the-counter in the US; people took it for leg cramps. But they made it Rx-only in the 80s (or 90s; not certain) because it can have dangerous side-effects (including cardiac issues) in some people. It's kind of a nasty drug, but it's better than malaria. There are now better drugs for the conditions Quinine was used for.

Re: Chloroquine has shown apparent efficacy in treatment of Covid-19

#233

Post by zimpenfish »

gordeh wrote: post #172
cm2187 wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

According to Raoult, it doesn’t seem to be a technical limitation, the test is a standard procedure that labs around the country already do routinely for other viruses.

It's the capacity that is the issue. Testing labs all over the world, are running far above capacity already. It's not something that can be scaled up overnight either.

South Korea managed to spin a system where they can test 20k people a day in just over two weeks[1]. What's stopping other countries from doing that?

[1] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-51836898

Re: Chloroquine has shown apparent efficacy in treatment of Covid-19

#234

Post by jules-jules »

skrebbel wrote: post #87
lacker wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can just buy it over-the-counter in some countries, right? How dangerous can it really be? Follow the instructions on the box like citizens of those countries do. IMO we in the US need to take the coronavirus as a wake up call to stop ignoring the medical systems of other countries and admit that they might have something to teach us. We shouldn’t just assume the American medical system is always the best one.

> You can just buy it over-the-counter in some countries, right? How dangerous can it really be? That's absolutely meaningless, some countries are nuts. Just about anything gets sold over the counter somewhere. There's even countries where guns are sold over the counter.

The UK has it otc

Re: Chloroquine has shown apparent efficacy in treatment of Covid-19

#235

Post by CPLX »

arusahni wrote: post #228
CPLX wrote: post #197

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you sure you’re not talking about Malarone? That’s the other anti-malaria drug which has very intense and emotional dreams as a side effect.

Lariam (Mefloquine) was the one I took in the 90s that had the psychological warnings attached. IIRC, Malarone is newer, and may not align with the OP's timeline.

Whoops. You are correct. We were both wrong, Lariam is what I was thinking of.

Re: Chloroquine has shown apparent efficacy in treatment of Covid-19

#236

Post by hippich »

j-james wrote: post #122

> It is on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines, the safest and most effective medicines needed in a health system ... The wholesale cost in the developing world is about US$0.04. In the United States, it costs about US$5.30 per dose. [1] That's a little over 132x more expensive. Compared to other common medicines like ibuprofen ($0.04 in the developing world, $0.05 in the USA [2]), what makes…

For what it is worth - on my surgery bill one tablet of ibuprofen was billed at $40+. Insurance accepted $20+. So I would guess it will heavily depends on provider as well.

Re: Chloroquine has shown apparent efficacy in treatment of Covid-19

#237

Post by blaser-waffle »

codebolt wrote: post #143
j-james wrote: post #122

> It is on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines, the safest and most effective medicines needed in a health system ... The wholesale cost in the developing world is about US$0.04. In the United States, it costs about US$5.30 per dose. [1] That's a little over 132x more expensive. Compared to other common medicines like ibuprofen ($0.04 in the developing world, $0.05 in the USA [2]), what makes…

I have in-laws in Nigeria. We just tipped them off a couple of days ago that now might be a good time to buy some Chloroquine and keep at the house, in case the situation gets worse. This is a commonly known medicine down there, that you can get from pharmacies without prescription. But based on what we're seeing so far, it seems plausible that this virus prefers cooler northern climates. So hopefully it will turn ou…

> But based on what we're seeing so far, it seems plausible that this virus prefers cooler northern climates. So hopefully it will turn out to be an unnecessary precaution.

Wuhan has temps around 50F-75F (~15C-22C). Certainty not hot, but not a cooler climate given how it's still winter in this hemisphere.

Italy and Spain aren't known for being especially cold either, mountainous areas notwithstanding.

Re: Chloroquine has shown apparent efficacy in treatment of Covid-19

#238

Post by rb808 »

rb808 wrote: post #205
j-james wrote: post #122

> It is on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines, the safest and most effective medicines needed in a health system ... The wholesale cost in the developing world is about US$0.04. In the United States, it costs about US$5.30 per dose. [1] That's a little over 132x more expensive. Compared to other common medicines like ibuprofen ($0.04 in the developing world, $0.05 in the USA [2]), what makes…

Its a prescription drug in the US, and pharmacists get paid a bunch. Most developing countries you can buy OTC.

https://rxsaver.retailmenot.com/drugs/chloroquine-phosphate/... has it at 60c/dose in my area.

Re: Chloroquine has shown apparent efficacy in treatment of Covid-19

#239

Post by philipkglass »

iamgopal wrote: post #139

Is this the same drug that was given to Harbert in Jule Verne's The Mysterious Island ?

No. The Mysterious Island was written in 1874. Chloroquine was discovered in 1934:

https://www.mmv.org/malaria-medicines/history-antimalarials

Re: Chloroquine has shown apparent efficacy in treatment of Covid-19

#240

Post by tim333 »

cm2187 wrote: post #120

For French speakers, a talk yesterday from Didier Raoult who is also testing Chloroquine in France [1] (and I believe who originally discovered the anti-viral benefits of that molecule on certain viruses). He finds that it reduces significantly the viral charge. He made an interesting point. It appears infected people remain contagious for 3 weeks. Taking this drug allows to significantly reduce this period. The curr…

For non French speakers, Youtube will translate the subtitles to the language of your choice if you click settings a bit
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