New Drug Cannot Prevent COVID-19 Infections
The Claim
According to President Trump, taking hydroxychloroquine after being exposed to someone with COVID-19 could help protect you from getting the disease.
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Emerging story
A recent study published in the New England Journal of Medicine sheds light on if taking hydroxychloroquine can prevent healthy people from getting COVID-19.
Misbar’s Analysis
A new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine that tested the efficacy of taking hydroxychloroquine as a preventive measure to getting COVID-19 has shown no impact on actually stopping the spread of the disease.
The study, the first randomized clinical trial that tested the drug, showed that taking hydroxychloroquine was no more effective than taking a placebo to prevent becoming infected with the deadly virus.
While President Trump has claimed repeatedly that the drug would help prevent healthy people from getting sick, federal regulators have said it should only be used either for hospitalized patients or for those in clinical trials due to potentially serious side effects.
The study looked at 821 people in both the United States and Canada who had been exposed to COVID-19. Those enrolled were either health care workers or those that lived in a household with someone who had the virus.
Despite the claims made by President Trump about the efficacy of taking hydroxychloroquine to prevent COVID-19, new research published in the New England Journal of Medicine indicates otherwise. As a result, we label the claim that taking hydroxychloroquine after being exposed to someone with COVID-19 can protect you from getting the disease as “false”.
