Italian study: 30% lower in-hospital death rate for COVID-19 patients on hydroxychloroquine

(Worthy News) – Italian researchers have found that COVID-19 patients who were treated with hydroxychloroquine in Italy had a 30% lower in-hospital death rate compared to those who did not receive the medicine, Study Finds reports. Researchers from IRCCS Neuromed at the Mediterranean Neurological Institute studied 3,451 patients in 33 coronavirus-focused hospitals across Italy. The results were published in the European Journal of Internal Medicine.

Including researchers from the University of Pisa, the Italian team studied data from current and previous diseases and from treatments given prior to the pandemic. They also considered drugs being given in hospitals to treat COVID-19. Upon comparing drug improvements and final outcomes, the results consistently showed a benefit to using hydroxychloroquine, Study Finds said.

“Our data were subjected to extremely rigorous statistical analysis, taking into account all the variables and possible confounding factors that could come into play. The drug efficacy was evaluated in various subgroups of patients,” study author Augusto Di Castelnuovo, an epidemiologist with IRCCS, said in a press release.

Di Castelnuovo disputes the assertion of previous reports that hydroxychloroquine only works in certain situations: “The positive results of hydroxychloroquine treatment remained unchanged. Especially in those patients showing a more evident inflammatory state at the moment of admission to hospital.”

The study researchers also point out that the World Health Organization recently retracted its prior recommendation that hydroxychloroquine should not be used to treat COVID-19.

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