DG: Anti-malaria drug may have reduced Covid-19 patients’ need for ICU

CORONAVIRUS | Malaysia’s use of an antimalarial drug appears to have prevented Covid-19 from worsening and thus contributed to fewer patients in the ICU.

Health Ministry director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said today that hospitals have been administering an off-label version of hydroxychloroquine since the outbreak began.

Despite caution from the World Health Organization (WHO), he explained that Malaysia made the informed choice to use it due to desperate circumstances.

“All the medicines that we use are off-label medicines. It is not recommended but in times of crisis, we have to look at the evidence.

“The evidence shows that antiretroviral (drugs) can be used because we used it in the past on Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (Sars) and other viruses. That is why we used the drug,” Noor Hisham said.

Elaborating, he said hydroxychloroquine has been able to stop the virus from worsening in patients who were either asymptomatic or had mild Covid-19 symptoms.

It was especially effective in reducing inflammation of the lungs.

“Thus, less of our patients need to be warded into the ICU or need to be put under ventilators.

“Right now we only have about five percent of patients who are in the ICU compared to other countries which are at 10 percent.

“One of the possible reasons is because we have been using this drug since the beginning,” Noor Hisham said.

As of 12 noon today, Malaysia registered 1,321 Covid-19 cases, of which 92 are in the ICU.

Fifty of the 92 ICU patients need ventilators.

[More to follow] - Mkini