Vol. 9, Issue 4 (2020)

Author(s):
Mohammed Chyad Al-Noaemi and Al-Husein Hammoodi

Abstract:
In late December 2019, a very serious outbreak of novel coronavirus pneumonia has been reported in Wuhan, China. The WHO nominated this disease as COVID-19 and described its outbreak as a pandemic. Previous and recent in vivo and in vitro studies have shown that Chloroquine (CQ) can inhibit coronavirus replication. Therefore, CQ and its derivative hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) repurposed for COVID-19 as an emergency therapy. The Chinese treated COVID-19 patients and reported that CQ has a slight advantage over Lopinavir/Ritonavir. While another group reported that HCQ is more effective in treating COVID-19 patients. Many reports from Italy and France, demonstrated that COVID-19 patients treated successfully by HCQ. HCQ could be used in a single dose for prophylaxis against CoV infection. Besides, it could be combined with Nigella sativa, which decreases HCQ adverse effects and potentiates its anti-COVID-19 activity. Such therapeutic measurements will protect and save millions of people.