Chloroquine nasal drops can prevent Covid-19 infection in the initial stages, says AIIMS study

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A study carried out by the doctors from All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi states that Chloroquine when administered as a dosage form via nasal drops, can be powerful in terms of preventing the infection at thd early stages.

The objective of the study is to understand the safety and efficacy of nasal drops of Chloroquine with respect to preventing infection at early stages.

Dr Alok Thakar, Professor, Department of otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery at AIIMS said, “The present study suggests the potential of topical nasal CQN in the prevention of Covid-19 infection if administered before the infection is established. No significant differences in clinical or virological outcome here, however, demonstrated in patients with mild but established illness.”

The study conducted by AIIMS is termed as exploratory, randomized controlled trial, registered under Clinical Trial Registry of India. The study had recruitment from April 23 to May 06, 2020 over a sample size of 60 participants and written consent was taken from the participants. The findings of the study stated, “Intranasal CQN was noted as safe and well tolerated  The clinical outcomes were uniformly good in the subset of patients with mild asymptomatic infection. The good clinical outcomes in the control group indicated that a large sample size would be required to demonstrate the effect of any intervention in mild Covid-19 on the basis of clinical outcomes alone.”

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