Hydroxychloroquine as antiviral prophylaxis for exposed caregivers to Covid-19: an urgent appraisal is needed

Hassani, Rachid Tahiri Joutei; Bennis, Ahmed

Abstract Background Since the onset of the new coronavirus pandemic, the world is facing a public health emergency. Repositioning hydroxychloroquine (HQ) seems to be a promising option. Many emerging evidences have converged on the effectiveness of HQ in the treatment of Covid-19 infection. In a recent paper, Gautret et al. suggested that further works are needed to determine if HQ antiviral prophylaxis is useful, especially for healthcare workers. Methods The purpose of this paper is to assess the Covid-19 exposure and risks level among caregivers. For this, we performed research on internet and PubMed by crossing the following keywords: healthcare givers, healthcare workers, doctors, nurses, coronavirus, Covid-19, mortality, infection rate, chloroquine, hydroxychloroquine. Results Data on healthcare worker's infection and mortality by Covid-19 are partial and are not systematically published. However, it seems that the infection rate varies between 3.8% and 9% depending on the country. Moreover, the mean age of this population is relatively old, especially in the OECD area. Conclusions Anti-Covid-19 HQ prophylaxis should be urgently accessed, especially for healthcare workers. It is to be hoped that HQ prophylaxis reduces the morbidity and mortality from Covid-19 infection among this population which is particularly exposed and relatively old.