The Union Health Ministry has released an advisory on the use of hydroxychloroquine drug for the treatment of the Wuhan coronavirus infection.
The advisory is based on the recommendation on the Indian Council of Medical Research. A task force was constituted by the ICMR to list the essentialities.
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The drug Hydroxychloroquine has been widely used as a medicine which can treat coronavirus infection, ICMR said that it is not recommending its commercial use unless it gets satisfactory test results.
The advisory recommends to the drug should not be prescribed to children below 15 years of age and those cases of retinopathy and known hypersensitivity to hydroxychloroquine or 4-aminoquinoline compounds should also refrain from taking the medicine.
ICMR scientist R Ganga Ketkar said to ANI, “It is important to understand that this (hydroxychloroquine) medicine is not mandatory. Whether it will reduce the infection, will be known only after tests. The doctors are still testing it on symptomatic patients. Until we get satisfactory results, we won’t recommend this to anyone.”
ICMR suggests that Hydroxychloroquine is recommended to those health workers who are involved in the care of suspected cases of coronavirus or those who are confirmed cases and symptomatic household contacts of laboratory-confirmed cases.
The advisory released by the health ministry has listed points that should be considered before taking the hydroxychloroquine. The advisory asserts that the drug has to be taken only after it is recommended by a registered medical practitioner and patients or suspects should check with a physician about any adverse event before taking the medication.
The health ministry guidelines says that, “If anyone becomes symptomatic while on prophylaxis, he/she should immediately contact the health facility, get tested as per national guidelines and follow the standard treatment protocol.”
The advisory has strictly mentioned that the drug should be taken after the prescription of registered medical practitioner.
There is a huge demand for the anti-malarial drug, hydroxychloroquine, from all over the world, including the US, for its potential use in helping treat patients of the novel coronavirus. India is the largest producer of the malarial drug. India has got a request from 30 countries for hydroxychloroquine.
Till 10 April, 6412 cases of coronavirus has been confirmed positive while 199 succumbed to the disease. 504 has been recovered and discharged.
