Gnanasabai Gnanamani, Naik Gitismita, Boovaragasamy Chithra, Kumar M Mohan
Department of Community Medicine, Vinayaka Mission's Medical College & Hospital, Karaikal, Puducherry, India.
Department of Community and Family Medicine, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Raipur, Chhatisgarh, India.
Int J Prev Med. 2021 Jul 29;12:90. doi: 10.4103/ijpvm.IJPVM_532_20. eCollection 2021.
COVID-19 is an unprecedented pandemic that has taken the modern world under seize. In spite of lack of solid evidence, certain federal governments had recommended the use of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ), chloroquine, and azithromycin as prophylactic medications either for contacts or for healthcare providers in particular. The objective of this study is to assess the issues related to intake of prophylactic medications in view of COVID-19 and the proportion and pattern of side effects.
A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted using mixed methods approach among healthcare workers in Puducherry, India.
HCQ was the prophylactic drug taken by all the participants ( = 26). Of the 26, 15.4% had a baseline ECG, 26.9% took HCQ based on the recommended Day 1 dose of 800 mg and 61.5% of the participants had the drug provided by the hospital where they work. Reasons for taking prophylaxis were sense of vulnerability (due to co-morbidities, lack of PPE kits) and peer practice. However, the participants did not recommend prophylactic medication to others due to lack of evidence, death claims related to prophylactic drugs in media, hospitals not taking responsibility of baseline monitoring and need for long follow-up.
The data on assessment of HCQ prophylaxis indicates only minor side-effects, though limited by sample size. Evidence-based recommendations on prophylactic drugs for COVID-19, effective risk communication, peer education and support, accountability, ease of baseline, and follow-up investigations were the need of the hour to improve intake and adherence to prophylactic regime for COVID-19.
新型冠状病毒肺炎（COVID-19）是一场前所未有的大流行疾病，席卷了现代世界。尽管缺乏确凿证据，但某些联邦政府已建议使用羟氯喹（HCQ）、氯喹和阿奇霉素作为预防药物，特别是用于接触者或医护人员。本研究的目的是评估与COVID-19相关的预防性药物摄入问题以及副作用的比例和模式。
采用混合方法，对印度本地治里的医护人员进行了一项描述性横断面研究。
所有参与者（n = 26）均服用了HCQ作为预防药物。在这26人中，15.4%进行了基线心电图检查，26.9%根据推荐的第1天剂量800毫克服用了HCQ，61.5%的参与者服用的药物由其工作的医院提供。服用预防药物的原因是感觉易受感染（由于合并症、缺乏个人防护装备）和同行的做法。然而，由于缺乏证据、媒体报道的与预防药物相关的死亡事件、医院不承担基线监测责任以及需要长期随访，参与者并未向他人推荐预防药物。
尽管样本量有限，但关于HCQ预防的评估数据仅显示出轻微的副作用。当前需要基于证据的COVID-19预防药物建议、有效的风险沟通、同伴教育与支持、问责制、基线检查的便利性以及随访调查，以提高COVID-19预防方案的摄入量和依从性。
