Safety of Hydroxychloroquine among Outpatient Clinical Trial Participants for COVID-19

Abstract Introduction Use of hydroxychloroquine in hospitalized patients with COVID-19, especially in combination with azithromycin, has raised safety concerns. Here, we report safety data from three outpatient randomized clinical trials.Methods We conducted three randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials investigating hydroxychloroquine as pre-exposure prophylaxis, post-exposure prophylaxis and early treatment for COVID-19. We excluded individuals with contraindications to hydroxychloroquine. We collected side effects and serious adverse events. We report descriptive analyses of our findings.Results We enrolled 2,795 participants. The median age of research participants was 40 (IQR 34-49) years, and 59% (1633/2767) reported no chronic medical conditions. Overall 2,324 (84%) participants reported side effect data, and 638 (27%) reported at least one medication side effect. Side effects were reported in 29% with daily, 36% with twice weekly, 31% with once weekly hydroxychloroquine compared to 19% with placebo. The most common side effects were upset stomach or nausea (25% with daily, 18% with twice weekly, 16% with weekly, vs. 10% for placebo), followed by diarrhea, vomiting, or abdominal pain (23% for daily, 16% twice weekly, 12% weekly, vs. 6% for placebo). Two individuals were hospitalized for atrial arrhythmias, one on placebo and one on twice weekly hydroxychloroquine. No sudden deaths occurred.Conclusion Data from three outpatient COVID-19 trials demonstrated that gastrointestinal side effects were common but mild with the use of hydroxychloroquine, while serious side effects were rare. No deaths occurred related to hydroxychloroquine. Randomized clinical trials can safely investigate whether hydroxychloroquine is efficacious for COVID-19.Short Summary Data from three randomized clinical trials using hydroxychloroquine for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19 did not suggest significant safety concerns. Gastrointestinal side effects were common but arrhythmias were rare. There were no sudden deaths in any trial..

Medienart:

Preprint

Erscheinungsjahr:

2022

Erschienen:

2022

Enthalten in:

bioRxiv.org - (2022) vom: 04. Nov. Zur Gesamtaufnahme - year:2022

Sprache:

Englisch

Beteiligte Personen:

Lofgren, Sarah M [VerfasserIn]
Nicol, Melanie R [VerfasserIn]
Bangdiwala, Ananta S [VerfasserIn]
Pastick, Katelyn A [VerfasserIn]
Okafor, Elizabeth C [VerfasserIn]
Skipper, Caleb P [VerfasserIn]
Pullen, Matthew F [VerfasserIn]
Engen, Nicole W [VerfasserIn]
Abassi, Mahsa [VerfasserIn]
Williams, Darlisha A [VerfasserIn]
Nascene, Alanna A [VerfasserIn]
Axelrod, Margaret L [VerfasserIn]
Lother, Sylvain A [VerfasserIn]
MacKenzie, Lauren J [VerfasserIn]
Drobot, Glen [VerfasserIn]
Marten, Nicole [VerfasserIn]
Cheng, Matthew P [VerfasserIn]
Zarychanski, Ryan [VerfasserIn]
Schwartz, Ilan S [VerfasserIn]
Silverman, Michael [VerfasserIn]
Chagla, Zain [VerfasserIn]
Kelley, Lauren E [VerfasserIn]
McDonald, Emily G [VerfasserIn]
Lee, Todd C [VerfasserIn]
Hullsiek, Katherine H [VerfasserIn]
Boulware, David R. [VerfasserIn]
Rajasingham, Radha [VerfasserIn]

Links:

Volltext [kostenfrei]

Themen:

570
Biology

doi:

10.1101/2020.07.16.20155531

funding:

Förderinstitution / Projekttitel:

PPN (Katalog-ID):

XBI018417523