THIS NATIONAL CLINICAL TRIAL AIMS TO IDENTIFY TREATMENTS THAT MAY BE BENEFICIAL FOR ADULTS HOSPITALISED WITH CONFIRMED COVID-19

There is a national trial in progress called RECOVERY which has four treatment arms, one of which is Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ). There are currently no treatments for COVID-19, but the trial will seek to research the outcomes of a number of different treatment options as it is important that we do all we can to help prevent this situation from happening again.

This is a UK wide study with 132 hospitals involved, including St Thomas’ Hospital, the trial is being coordinated by infectious disease, respiratory medicine and critical care consultants.

The chance to join the trial will be offered to adult inpatients who have tested positive for COVID-19 in NHS hospitals, and who have not been excluded for medical reasons. All patients will receive the usual standard of care. Patients joining the trial will be allocated at random by computer to receive one of the two drugs being studied or no additional medication. This will enable researchers to see whether any of the possible new treatments are more or less effective than those currently used for patients with COVID-19.

Details of the trial are here. There is a video by Professor Peter Horby explaining what the trial is about.