COVID: hydroxychloroquine post-exposure prophylaxis
A randomized trial did not find benefit of hydroxychloroquine used as postexposure prophylaxis for Covid-19 ( see covid hydroxychloroquine PEP nejm2020 in dropbox or DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa2016638 ) Details: -- 821 asymptomatic people from the United States and Canada exposed to someone with confirmed Covid-19 were randomized to hydroxychloroquine (800 mg x1, 600 mg 6 to 8 hours later, then 600 mg daily for 4 more days, for a total course of 5 days) vs placebo -- exposure: household or occupational exposure to someone with known Covid-19, at a distance of less than 6 feet for more than 10 minutes while wearing neither a facemask nor an eye shield (high risk exposure) or whiole wearing a facemask but no eye shield (moderate risk exposure) -- median age 40, 52% women, 27% with chronic health conditions (hypertension 12%, asthma 8%) -- 66% of the participants were healthcare workers, majority being physicians or physicians assistants (63%) and nurses are nursing ...