Visiting Marseille, French President Emmanuel Macron unexpectedly went to the IHU-Méditerranée hospital to meet Professor Raoult. The occasion to get an update on the scientist’s latest clinical trial as he’s currently testing chloroquine as a treatment on coronavirus patients.
IHU-Méditerranée director has released a study about the use of hydroxychloroquine that go itself talked about a lot in France and across the world. First, Didier Raoult ran an experiment based on 20 cases only, then a second one on about 80 patients that – according to him – validates the effectiveness of chloroquine as a treatment against coronavirus. This Thursday, the professor finalizes a study carried out on 1062 patients treated in his service. He likely shows results of his latest study to the President.
For the record, in the morning, Emmanuel Macron went to the Kremlin-Bicêtre University Hospital to “meet university hospital teams involved in clinical trials against Covid-19” according to a press release from the Elysée and the President remains very attentive to the different trials running to find a cure against Covid-19.
By the way, the President has planned to meet as many scientists as possible and have a close look to works they carry out everywhere in France before his address on Monday evening.
There are currently dozens of studies carried out in France and in the world to fine a treatment or a vaccine to cure covid you can learn more about in our article: Coronavirus and treatments: medication trails in France and the world.
The Head Of State came to show he was interested in all researches and that the government neglects no trail to fight coronavirus.
J'ai eu le plaisir d'accueillir hier le Président de la République @EmmanuelMacron à l'@IHU_Marseille : un lieu qui met en synergie diagnostic, recherche et soin.
— Didier Raoult (@raoult_didier) April 10, 2020
Aujourd'hui, nous pouvons tester jusqu'à 4000 prélèvements par jour. Notre expérience doit servir au pays. pic.twitter.com/ausmvgW5ET
Tweet reads: “I was delighted to have French President @EmmanuelMacron at the @IHU_Marseille: a place that puts diagnostic, research and care in synergy.
Today, we can test up to 4,000 samples a day. Our experiment must serve the country”.
Didier Raoult is said to have handed Emmanuel Macron a follow-up study on 1,061 patients who went by his units and estimating to 91% the effectiveness of his treatment. For the record, Marseille is the city performing the most covid-19 serological tests in the world.
Results from Professor Raoult’s study:
As for professor Raoult’s latest study, it’s been performed on 1,061 patients tested positive for Covid-19 and not included before in the previous studies of the institute. Patients ticked all inclusion criteria fixed by the professor’s team. Their average age was 43.8 years old, 493 were men (46.4%) and no cardiac toxicity has been noticed.
Out of these 1,061 patients, 973 people have been cured in ten days, which leads to an effectiveness of the treatment rate of 91.7% with the mix of hydroxychloroquine-azithromycin.
Yet, it’s important to say that in 4.3% of cases (46 patients), the sick’s health has deteriorated. 10 patients have been placed in intensive care, 5 aged between 74 and 95 have passed away since then (0.47%) and 31 required ten-day and more at the hospital. Among this group, 25 have been cured at the time the study was released and 16 are still at the hospital.
The professor concludes his study with this sentence: the treatment with hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin, when started right after the diagnosis “is a sure and effective treatment against Covid-19, with a mortality rate of 0.5% in the oldest patients. It avoids aggravation and eliminates persistence and contagiousness of the virus in most cases”.
Results that seem promising then but that should be treated cautiously since the absence of control group, vital to show the effectiveness of the treatment.
