| | | CLAIM: A 2005 study that found that “Chloroquine is a potent inhibitor of SARS coronavirus infection and spread” proves that hydroxychloroquine is effective against COVID-19.
AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. The study does not prove that the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine is effective against COVID-19. Several studies have found that hydroxychloroquine has no benefit against the coronavirus.
THE FACTS: Social media users are sharing a study of a different drug and different virus to say that it shows that the government has long known about the benefits of hydroxychloroquine.
In reality, chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine are not the same drug. The viruses that cause SARS and COVID-19 are in the same family but are still different viruses. Also, the study was completed in a laboratory setting on primate cells and not performed on humans.
The 2005 study published in the Virology Journal in 2005 and archived by the National Institutes of Health found that “chloroquine has strong antiviral effects on SARS-CoV infection of primate cells.” The posts online are sharing a screenshot from an opinion article byBrian Fischer, former director of the American Family Association, a Christian fundamentalist group, in the conservative community newspaper The Northwest Connection on April 28, 2020.
In the article, Fischer says, “So HCQ functions as both a cure and a vaccine.”
When asked for comment from The Associated Press, Fischer responded by pointing to an opinion piece written by a Yale epidemiologist in support of hydroxychloroquine.
One post sharing the screenshot of Fischer’s article received more than 2,000 shares on Facebook said “well, well, well... look at what the hell surfaced.” The screenshot did not show that the article was labeled opinion.
Several recent studies including one administered by the National Institutes of Health have found that hydroxychloroquine has no benefit on humans against the coronavirus. In June, the NIH announced that following a clinical trial to evaluate hydroxychloroquine they found that the “drug was very unlikely to be beneficial to hospitalized patients with COVID-19.”
The U.S Food and Drug Administration also revoked its emergency use authorization for the use of hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine to treat COVID-19, basing its decision on large and randomized clinical trials of hospitalized patients.
The FDA said that the drugs “showed no benefit for decreasing the likelihood of death or speeding recovery.”
Despite the evidence, President Donald Trump has continued to vocalize his support of the drug publicly.
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