ReviewNew microbes and new infections2020
Hydroxychloroquine is effective, and consistently so when provided early, for COVID-19: a systematic review.
Review in New microbes and new infections, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
22 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 37 citations in OpenAlex.
- Hydroxychloroquine in the treatment of coronavirus disease 2019: Rapid updated systematic review and meta-analysis.Reviews in medical virology · 2022Pooled it
- The PRINCIPLE randomised controlled open label platform trial of hydroxychloroquine for treating COVID19 in community based patients at high risk.Scientific reports · 2025Trial
- Prevalence, patterns, drivers, and perceived benefits of herbal medicine use in COVID-19 patients in Qatar.Journal of pharmaceutical policy and practice · 2025Article
- Increased red cell distribution width predicts mortality in COVID-19 patients admitted to a Dutch intensive care unit.Acute and critical care · 2024Article
- Potential of traditional medicines in alleviating COVID-19 symptoms.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2024Review
- The effect of oral hydroxychloroquine on chondral defect: An experimental study.Joint diseases and related surgery · 2023Article
- Co-infection of COVID-19 and parasitic diseases: A systematic review.Parasite epidemiology and control · 2023Review
- Molecular Engineering of Peptide-Drug Conjugates for Therapeutics.Pharmaceutics · 2022Review
- Consumption Trends of Antibiotics in Brazil During the COVID-19 Pandemic.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2022Article
- Effects of hydroxychloroquine and favipiravir on clinical course in outpatients with COVID-19Turkish journal of medical sciences · 2021Article
- Effect of azithromycin and hydroxychloroquine in patients hospitalized with COVID-19: Network meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Journal of medical virology · 2021Article
- Regarding: "Hydroxychloroquine: a comprehensive review and its controversial role in coronavirus disease 2019".Annals of medicine · 2021Article
- Scoping insight on antiviral drugs against COVID-19.Arabian journal of chemistry · 2021Review
- Clinical outcomes of patients with mild COVID-19 following treatment with hydroxychloroquine in an outpatient setting.International immunopharmacology · 2021Article
- The Reply.The American journal of medicine · 2021Article
- Considerations of the effects of commonly investigated drugs for COVID-19 in the cholesterol synthesis pathway.Expert opinion on pharmacotherapy · 2021Article
- A retrospective comparison of drugs against COVID-19.Virus research · 2021Article
- It is time to consider an anti-inflammatory therapy based on the pathophysiology of COVID-19 infection during the right time window?Archives of medical science : AMS · 2021Article
- A computational study on hydroxychloroquine binding to target proteins related to SARS-COV-2 infection.Informatics in medicine unlocked · 2021Article
- Hydroxychloroquine for prophylaxis and treatment of COVID-19 in health-care workers.New microbes and new infections · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) has shown efficacy against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in some but not all studies. We hypothesized that a systematic review would show HCQ to be effective against COVID-19, more effective when provided earlier, not associated with worsening disease and safe. We searched PubMed, Cochrane, Embase, Google Scholar and Google for all reports on HCQ as a treatment for COVID-19 patients. This included preprints and preliminary reports on larger COVID-19 studies. We examined the studies for efficacy, time of administration and safety. HCQ was found to be consistently effective against COVID-19 when provided early in the outpatient setting. It was also found to be overall effective in inpatient studies. No unbiased study found worse outcomes with HCQ use. No mortality or serious safety adverse events were found. HCQ is consistently effective against COVID-19 when provided early in the outpatient setting, it is overall effective against COVID-19, it has not produced worsening of disease and it is safe.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.