What You Need To Know About Chloroquine and Hydroxychloroquine

March 22, 2020March 22, 2020

In the chaos of the coronavirus pandemic, a cure or therapy for Covid-19 pneumonia infections has been proposed in the form of either chloroquine phosphate, or it’s less toxic cousin hydroxychloroquine sulfate, both drugs used in the prevention of malaria.

These anti-parasitic and anti-inflammatory drugs also are occasionally used to decrease the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis and to treat systemic and discoid lupus erythematosus, scleroderma, pemphigus, lichen planus, polymyositis, sarcoidosis, and porphyria cutanea tarda. There may be safer anti-inflammatories available, in addition to removing inflammation-causing foods.

Chloroquine phosphate can harm a nursing infant. Like all medications, there are a range of side effects from headache, diarrhea, skin rash, hair loss, mood changes to blurred vision, ringing in ears, vomiting, irregular heartbeat, convulsions, and difficulty breathing.

Nigeria reported two cases of chloroquine poisoning after U.S. President Donald Trump praised the anti-malaria drug as a treatment for the novel coronavirus.

The FDA is reportedly considering giving chloroquine and the anti-viral drug remdesivir to larger populations of coronavirus patients as part of an “expanded use” testing program.

The drugs chloroquine, hydroxychloroquine, and it’s predecessor quinine (no longer recommended due to its severe side effects) are synthetic drugs developed from alkaloids extracted from the South American plant Cinchona officinalis. Native to Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia, the plant Cinchona officinalis was traditionally used as an anti-fever agent. Using the bark of the cinchona (quina-quina) tree ground to a fine powder, it was used as a prevention and treatment of malaria for more than 400 years.

According to legend, quinine was introduced to Europe in 1638 by Francisca Enríquez de Rivera, Countess of Chinchón and wife of the viceroy of Peru. The countess came down with a severe fever. After the usual treatment —bleeding— proved ineffective, the countess was finally cured by cinchona powder from Loxa (currently Loja, Ecuador).

Quinine was used regularly along with aspirin as a therapeutic during the 1918-1919 Spanish Flu Pandemic against influenza infection. Both of these medications, unregulated at the time, and taken in larger than recommended doses, most likely contributed to high mortality rate of the Spanish Flu. Interestingly, it is recommended NOT to take ibuprofen and aspirin during Covid-19 infection as it can worsen illness severity.

Aspirin and quinine was widely used during the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918.

It is estimated that about 50 million people worldwide died during the Spanish Flu Pandemic, although subsequent autopsies have found that people died from secondary bacterial infections, not influenza viral infection.

Today, there are homeopathic versions and tincture versions of the medicinal plant.

Shared from Erin Marie RN: “Chloroquine… when I heard President Trump say today they would like to possibly use this to treat Coronavirus, my heart sank. As soldiers, we were given this overseas and it badly affected many of my comrades. Many of us spit it out because it made us sick. The military is aware of this. It is said that it may have caused many of the “PTSD” cases. This drug commonly causes psychosis….! I’ve witnessed it first-hand.

Please research before you blindly start taking a medication. You have a choice. Remember that. Please share this with everyone you know. They need to make an informed decision. The studies below are just a handful…there are thousands more.

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