Uganda halts use of hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19 treatment

Uganda has halted the use of hydroxychloroquine as studies to determine the drug’s effectiveness in treating COVID-19 according to a news report by The Independent.

The drug has been used to treat some positive cases of the disease at some treatment facilities like Entebbe General Hospital.

It was used in combination with antibiotics like azithromycin and painkillers where needed. But its use was stopped by the World Health Organisation after it was found to be ineffective in treating both mild and severe forms of the disease.

Lt. Col. Dr. Henry Kyobe, an epidemiologist and also the COVID-19 incident manager says that they have also resorted to monitoring all people who test positive for the disease.

The new approach will now focus on the use of Vitamin C in combination with zinc and azithromycin to manage cases.

"The argument behind the hospitalization of patients is to make sure that we monitor them so that they do not slip into severe illness and if they do to make sure we can deal with the cases first," he said.

Since drug trials into possible COVID-19 treatments begun, only two drugs have shown any kind of promise.

Remdesivir which was initially developed for Ebola Virus disease has shown that it can help patients recover faster by reducing their recovery period by four days. The other is dexamethasone which can stop mortality in severe cases. 

Another drug that is being tested and has shown promise is a cholesterol-lowering drug Fenofibrate which researchers say helps the body burn carbohydrates, reducing the fat accumulating inside the lung cells and stopping the virus from reproducing.