UdL, IRBLleida and HUAV initiate a research study to evaluate the efficacy of chloroquine treatment against COVID-19

The University of Lleida (UdL), the Lleida Biomedical Research Institute (IRBLleida), and the Arnau de Vilanova University Hospital (HUAV) have started a research study to determine the efficacy of treatment with chloroquine or derivatives in COVID19 infection. The professor and researcher at the UdL and the IRBLleida Joan Fibla, together with the doctor from the HUAV Emergency Service Oriol Yuguero and the UdL researcher Marina Laplana lead the project, which will be carried out throughout Spain.

Two recent clinical trials have presented inconclusive evidence on the effectiveness of chloroquine treatment in COVID-19 infection. This drug is used as a powerful antimalarial agent and in the treatment of autoimmune conditions and lupus. Not without serious side effects, its use (under medical prescription) is widely spread and, according to data from the Catalan Health Service, approximately 10,000 people are currently receiving this treatment in Catalonia and close to 75,000, throughout Spain.

The study aims to determine the efficacy of this drug against COVID-19 by evaluating the incidence of COVID-19 infection, or the symptoms indicative of it, in a significant sample of people who are under active treatment with chloroquine or its derivatives by autoimmune ailments. "If this drug were to melt effectively, significant differences would have to be observed in the incidence of COVID-19 cases, or in the manifestation of related symptoms, between this sample and the general population," explained Fibla.

With this objective, a brief questionnaire has been designed to assess the health status, in relation to COVID-19, of people who are receiving active treatment with chloroquine or derivatives. For the results to be representative, it is necessary to obtain the maximum possible number of responses. The study is also open to people who do not receive this treatment, to obtain a reference sample.

Achieving the maximum dissemination of this research is essential to achieve the objectives. For this reason, with the slogan "Help us find an effective treatment against COVID-19", the questionnaire will be distributed to all patient associations in the Spanish State and to the general population through social networks and the media.