ST. LOUIS (KMOX) — Testing is getting underway at Barnes Jewish Hospital on two highly-touted anti-malaria drugs -- seen by some as an effective treatment against COVID-19.
Co-study leader -- Washington University infectious diseases specialist Dr. Rachel Presti -- says they will investigate whether the two drugs -- hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine -- alone or in combination with the antibiotic azithromycin -- are effective and safe in treating COVID-19 patients.
"What we elected to do was a strategy study to see the differences between the safety of these different drug combinations, or in the effect of these drug combinations, in treating (confirmed COVID-19 patients)."
Right now, the patients must be receiving treatment at Barnes Jewish Hospital, but Dr. Presti says it is hoped the study will expand to other hospitals across the area.
"We started at Barnes-Jewish, but there is an active effort to expand the sites across the city," says study co-leader Dr. Jane O'Halloran of Washington University's School of Medicine.
She says the aim is to help people resolve symptoms faster, or prevent them from getting worse and eventually needing ICU.
It could take several months before the test results are known.