Incidence of COVID-19 in patients exposed to chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine: results from a population-based prospective cohort in Catalonia, Spain, 2020
Background: Several clinical trials have assessed the protective potential of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine. Chronic exposure to such drugs might lower the risk of infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) or severe coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Aim: To asses...
| Autores: | , , , , , , , |
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| Formato: | artículo |
| Estado: | Versión publicada |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2021 |
| País: | España |
| Recursos: | Varias* (Consorci de Biblioteques Universitáries de Catalunya, Centre de Serveis Científics i Acadèmics de Catalunya) |
| Repositorio: | Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunya |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:recercat.cat:10459.1/70934 |
| Acesso em linha: | https://doi.org/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2021.26.9.2001202 http://hdl.handle.net/10459.1/70934 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palavra-chave: | COVID-19 (Malaltia) |
| Resumo: | Background: Several clinical trials have assessed the protective potential of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine. Chronic exposure to such drugs might lower the risk of infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) or severe coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Aim: To assess COVID-19 incidence and risk of hospitalisation in a cohort of patients chronically taking chloroquine/hydroxychloroquine. Methods: We used linked health administration databases to follow a cohort of patients with chronic prescription of hydroxychloroquine/chloroquine and a control cohort matched by age, sex and primary care service area, between 1 January and 30 April 2020. COVID-19 cases were identified using International Classification of Diseases 10 codes. Results: We analysed a cohort of 6,746 patients (80% female) with active prescriptions for hydroxychloroquine/chloroquine, and 13,492 controls. During follow-up, there were 97 (1.4%) COVID-19 cases in the exposed cohort and 183 (1.4%) among controls. The incidence rate was very similar between the two groups (12.05 vs 11.35 cases/100,000 person-days). The exposed cohort was not at lower risk of infection compared with controls (hazard ratio (HR): 1.08; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.83–1.44; p=0.50). Forty cases (0.6%) were admitted to hospital in the exposed cohort and 50 (0.4%) in the control cohort, suggesting a higher hospitalisation rate in the former, though differences were not confirmed after adjustment (HR: 1·46; 95% CI: 0.91–2.34; p=0.10). Conclusions: Patients chronically exposed to chloroquine/hydroxychloroquine did not differ in risk of COVID-19 nor hospitalisation, compared with controls. As controls were mainly female, findings might not be generalisable to a male population. |
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