Sarcoidosis Medication used for Corona Virus

This week Sarcoidosis UK have issued some useful information for sarcoidosis sufferers who are in a high risk group, pointing out that there are many people with rare diseases who have specific risks that could be triggered by the infection, or by the treatment for Covid-19. They called on the Government to create an “Underlying Conditions and Coronavirus Treatment Portal” so that doctors can see quickly what the implications of Covid-19 is likely to be on any disease.

Interestingly among the drugs that are used to treat sarcoidosis is one that has been found to have some benefit in treating Covid-19 – chloroquine (an oral anti malaria drug) that along with Hydroxychloroquine has been used to treat sarcoidosis of the skin, lungs, and nervous system, given to treat the hypercalcaemia that is often seen with sarcoidosis. One of the oldest and best-known anti-malarial drugs Chloroquine has been around for many years and it is widely sold.

Chloroquine approval

It is important to say that chloroquine has not yet been approved for treating coronavirus but recently President Trump, at one of his daily press briefings, did claim that chloroquine had actually been approved for use in the treatment of the coronavirus by the US FDA (Food and Drugs Administration), the body in charge of licensing medicines in America.  President Trump went on to say:

“We’re going to be able to make that drug available almost immediately. And that’s where the FDA has been so great. They’ve gone through the approval process – it’s been approved.”

Early Days

To be clear, chloroquine has been approved to treat malaria and arthritis and sarcoidosis in some instances and the US FDA has made it clear this is NOT the case when it comes to treating people with the Covid-19 coronavirus. The FDA does say that studies are under way to see if chloroquine can be effective in the treatment of Covid-19.

Commonly used

It’s no surprise that chloroquine has been part of the search to help coronavirus patients. It’s well known, and cheap and easy to produce. In treating malaria patients, the drug has been used to reduce fever and inflammation, in conditions like sarcoidosis and in lab studies, Chloroquine seems to be effective in blocking the coronavirus with some anecdotal evidence from doctors who say that it does appear to help, reported by James Gallagher, the BBC’s health correspondent.

At risk

Having a condition like sarcoidosis may be scary for some at the moment. Knowing that we are in a high-risk category might just make life feel very uncomfortable.  I suppose the message that I would like to give is that if people think that they are not afraid of the corona virus they should spare a thought for the people who, if they get it, will be seriously if not fatally affected. 

Everybody needs to keep safe and look after themselves but they need to look after other people too. Only in that way will this crisis be overcome.  Maybe we can learn something along the way, too?