Trump says he's taking malaria drug in case he gets virus

U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday that he is going for a malaria drug to safeguard against the brand new coronavirus, despite warnings from his own government that it should only be administered for COVID-19 in a hospital or research setting because of potentially fatal unwanted effects.

Trump told reporters he has been taking the drug, hydroxychloroquine, and a zinc supplement daily “for approximately a week . 5 now.” Trump spent weeks pushing the drug as a potential cure or prophylaxis for COVID-19 against the cautionary advice of several of his administration's top medical professionals. The drug gets the potential to cause significant unwanted effects in a few patients and has not been shown to combat the new coronavirus.

Trump said his doctor didn't recommend the drug to him, but he requested it from the White House physician.

"I started taking it, because I think it’s good," Trump said. "I’ve heard a whole lot of good stories.”

THE MEALS and Drug Administration warned health professionals last month that the drug shouldn't be used to take care of COVID-19 beyond hospital or research settings, due to sometimes fatal unwanted effects. Regulators issued the alert for the drug, which can even be used to take care of lupus and arthritis, after acquiring reports of heart-rhythm problems, including deaths, from poison control centers and other health providers.

Trump dismissed reports of side effects, saying, “All I could tell you is, up to now I seem to be to be OK.”

At least two White House staffers tested positive for COVID-19 earlier this month, sparking concerns about the steps taken by the administration to safeguard the president and sending Vice President Mike Pence and other officials into varying kinds of self-isolation.

The White House has since mandated that those in the West Wing wear face coverings and has introduced daily testing for the virus for the president, vice president and the ones they can be found in close contact with.

Trump last underwent an “interim” checkup in a November visit to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center that was not noted on his public schedule. His last complete physical occurred in February 2019.

Trump has repeatedly pushed the utilization of the drug with or without the antibiotic azithromycin, but no large, rigorous studies have found them safe or effective for avoiding or treating COVID-19.

Two large observational studies, each involving around 1,400 patients in New York, recently found no reap the benefits of hydroxychloroquine. Two new types published Thursday in the medical journal BMJ reached the same conclusion.

One, by French researchers, gave 84 hospitalized patients the drug and 97 others the usual care. There have been no differences in the odds of death, dependence on intensive care or developing severe illness.

The other study from China was a stricter test: 150 adults hospitalized with mild or moderate illness were randomly assigned to get hydroxychloroquine or usual care. The drug made no difference in rates of clearing the virus or time to relief of symptoms, plus they brought more unwanted effects.

In April, the National Institutes of Health launched a study testing hydroxychloroquine versus a placebo drug in 500 hospitalized COVID-19 patients. The other day, NIH announced another study to see if hydroxychloroquine plus azithromycin can prevent hospitalization or death in persons with mild to moderate illness. About 2,000 U.S. adults with confirmed coronavirus infections and symptoms such as fever, cough or shortness of breath will get the drugs or placebo pills.