Siripassorn Krittaecho, T. Huang Angkana, Nitiyanontakij Ravee, Uttayamakul Sumonmal, Klungthong Chonticha, Hunsawong Taweewun, Rungrojcharoenkit Kamonthip, Lohachanakul Jindarat, Kodchakorn Chanikarn, Vanachayangkul Pattaraporn, Poolpanichupatum Yongyuth, Hussem Kittinun, R. Jones Anthony, Fernandez Stefan, SARS-Cov-2 Viral Kinetics in Mild COVID-19 Patients Treated with Chloroquine Regimens or Standard of Care, International Journal of Coronaviruses, Volume 3, Issue 2, 2021, Pages 1-14, ISSN 2692-1537, https://doi.org/10.14302/issn.2692-1537.ijcv-21-3924.
(https://oap-researcharticles.org/ijcv/article/1680)
Abstract: This study measures the impact of chloroquine (CQ) therapy in reducing SARS-CoV-2 viral load in infected individuals and hence its transmissibility by describing changes in nasopharyngeal SARS-CoV-2 RNA kinetics in patients receiving standard of care (SOC) or CQ +/- ritonavir-boosted lopinavir (LPV/r). The nasopharyngeal (NP) samples were collected from mild COVID-19 patients admitted at Bamrasnaradura Infectious Diseases Institute between March and April of 2020. These patients either received SOC, or a high dose of CQ with loading dose, or high dose of CQ plus LPV/r. The samples were tested at AFRIMS using a quantitative RT-PCR assay. Levels of CQ in the plasma were measured 6 days post initiation of their treatment. In some instances, viral isolation was attempted to determine SARS-CoV-2 viability. Analyses of the clinical outcomes showed that CQ +/- lopinavir did not contribute significantly to decreasing the number of days with detected SARS-CoV-2 RNA. Viral NP GEs declined faster in the CQ group, but benefits diminished rapidly with delays in treatment initiation. Funding Global Emerging Infections Surveillance, Armed Forces Health Surveillance Branch (GEIS-AFHSB) for all research-related activities at the AFRIMS
Keywords: Chloroquine; COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; viral kinetics; therapeutic.