Hydroxychloroquine as prophylaxis for coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 infection. review of the ongoing clinical trials

At the time of writing this document the entire planet is facing the pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Contrary to the initial thoughts that most infected patients had symptoms, according to data from China collected in April 2020, at the time of the diagnosis, up to 80% of those confirmed to have the disease are asymptomatic, becoming an important source of contagion.1, 2, 3 Pan et al. reported that health workers in Wuhan (China) had a significantly higher risk of becoming infected (daily confirmed case rate in local health care workers was 130.5 per million while in the general population it was 41.5 per million).4 In this light, the scientific community is discussing the use of chemoprophylaxis in people at higher risk of infection using several alternatives including antimalarials (chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine) and antiretrovirals (lopinavir-ritonavir). At the time of writing this document the entire planet is facing the pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Contrary to the initial thoughts that most infected patients had symptoms, according to data from China collected in April 2020, at the time of the diagnosis, up to 80% of those confirmed to have the disease are asymptomatic, becoming an important source of contagion.1, 2, 3 Pan et al. reported that health workers in Wuhan (China) had a significantly higher risk of becoming infected (daily confirmed case rate in local health care workers was 130.5 per million while in the general population it was 41.5 per million).4 In this light, the scientific community is discussing the use of chemoprophylaxis in people at higher risk of infection using several alternatives including antimalarials (chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine) and antiretrovirals (lopinavir-ritonavir).