Version 1
: Received: 19 April 2020 / Approved: 22 April 2020 / Online: 22 April 2020 (08:33:34 CEST)
How to cite:
Otuechere, C. Repurposing of Chloroquine and Its Derivative, Hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19: Implications for People Living with HIV in Africa. Preprints2020, 2020040395. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202004.0395.v1
Otuechere, C. Repurposing of Chloroquine and Its Derivative, Hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19: Implications for People Living with HIV in Africa. Preprints 2020, 2020040395. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202004.0395.v1
Otuechere, C. Repurposing of Chloroquine and Its Derivative, Hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19: Implications for People Living with HIV in Africa. Preprints2020, 2020040395. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202004.0395.v1
APA Style
Otuechere, C. (2020). <strong>Repurposing of Chloroquine and Its Derivative, Hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19: Implications for People Living with HIV in Africa</strong>. Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202004.0395.v1
Chicago/Turabian Style
Otuechere, C. 2020 "<strong>Repurposing of Chloroquine and Its Derivative, Hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19: Implications for People Living with HIV in Africa</strong>" Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202004.0395.v1
Abstract
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, has been declared by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a pandemic. Unfortunately, finding a vaccine or developing drugs from the scratch is a time-consuming luxury given the widespread and high fatality rates of the virus. In the short term, repurposing of drugs already in use seem to be the most rational step to quickly and effectively curb the virus. Several antiviral agents had been proposed as possible remedies, but the 4-aminoquinolines, Chloroquine (CHQ) and hydroxychloroquine (HCHQ) appear to be generating more interest. They are generic, cheaply available and have proven efficacy against malaria parasites in Africa. The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), on the other hand, targets the immune system thereby reducing the patient’s ability to fight infections. Sadly, 68% of the global HIV burden occur in Africa. It is therefore anticipated that incidence of severe forms of COVID-19 could occur in Africa because of associated endemic conditions that compromise the immune system. With CHQ and HCHQ being considered for clinical use against COVID-19, there is a need to highlight their potential merits and confounding variables in the subgroup of patients with or without HIV.
Keywords
coronavirus disease 2019; chloroquine; drug repurposing; HIV; Africa
Subject
Medicine and Pharmacology, Pharmacology and Toxicology
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
