{"id":3862,"date":"2020-04-07T23:49:25","date_gmt":"2020-04-07T21:49:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/le-bars.net\/yoann\/?p=3862"},"modified":"2020-04-12T14:54:51","modified_gmt":"2020-04-12T12:54:51","slug":"on-chloroquine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/le-bars.net\/yoann\/en\/2020\/04\/07\/on-chloroquine\/","title":{"rendered":"On Chloroquine"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/7\/76\/Novel_Coronavirus_SARS-CoV-2.jpg\" alt=\"Image au microscope \u00e9lectronique du SARS-CoV-2\"\/><figcaption>Electron microscope image of SARS-CoV-2, the virus causing Covid-19 disease\u2014image made by the <a title=\"NIAID\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.niaid.nih.gov\/\" target=\"_blank\">NIAID<\/a> under licence <a title=\"CC&nbsp;BY&nbsp;2.0\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/2.0\/deed.en\" target=\"_blank\">Creative&nbsp;Common&nbsp;Attribution&nbsp;2.0&nbsp;Generic<\/a> via <a title=\"The image on Wikimedia&nbsp;Commons\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/File:Novel_Coronavirus_SARS-CoV-2.jpg\" target=\"_blank\">Wikimedia&nbsp;Commons<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>This article is written under rather peculiar circumstances, in fact quite dramatic ones to say the least: after a first case declared on November&nbsp;17<sup>th<\/sup>, 2019<span class=\"footnote_referrer\"><a role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToReference_3862_1('footnote_plugin_reference_3862_1_1');\" onkeypress=\"footnote_moveToReference_3862_1('footnote_plugin_reference_3862_1_1');\" ><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_3862_1_1\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\">1<\/sup><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3862_1_1\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\">Josephine&nbsp;Ma, March&nbsp;13<sup>th<\/sup>, 2020. \u2018Coronavirus: China\u2019s first confirmed Covid-19 case traced back to November 17\u2019, <em>South&nbsp;China&nbsp;Morning&nbsp;Post<\/em>. <a title=\"oronavirus: China\u2019s first confirmed Covid-19 case traced back to November 17\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/news\/china\/society\/article\/3074991\/coronavirus-chinas-first-confirmed-covid-19-case-traced-back\" target=\"_blank\">Available on-line<\/a>.<\/span><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3862_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3862_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top right', relative: true, offset: [10, 10], });<\/script>, a <a title=\"Coronavirus disease 2019\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Coronavirus_disease_2019\" target=\"_blank\">COVID-19<\/a> pandemic<span class=\"footnote_referrer\"><a role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToReference_3862_1('footnote_plugin_reference_3862_1_2');\" onkeypress=\"footnote_moveToReference_3862_1('footnote_plugin_reference_3862_1_2');\" ><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_3862_1_2\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\">2<\/sup><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3862_1_2\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\">World&nbsp;Health Organization (WHO), March&nbsp;11<sup>th<\/sup>, 2020. <em>WHO Director-General\u2019s opening remarks at the media briefing on COVID-19<\/em>, WHO. <a title=\"WHO Director-General\u2019s opening remarks at the media briefing on COVID-19\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.who.int\/dg\/speeches\/detail\/who-director-general-s-opening-remarks-at-the-media-briefing-on-covid-19---11-march-2020\" target=\"_blank\">Available on-line<\/a>.<\/span><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3862_1_2').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3862_1_2', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top right', relative: true, offset: [10, 10], });<\/script> has spread throughout the world. Among several consequences, this pandemic caused <a title=\"Informations coronavirus\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gouvernement.fr\/info-coronavirus\" target=\"_blank\">the confinement of the French population from March&nbsp;17<sup>th<\/sup>, 2020 at noon<\/a>. I wrote the following article in France during this confinement. Actually, the seriousness of the pandemic led a group of scientific mediators do launch a coordinate prevention message on March&nbsp;14<sup>th<\/sup>, 2020 at 6\u202fp.m. <a title=\"Coronavirus : chaque JOUR compte\" href=\"http:\/\/le-bars.net\/yoann\/fr\/2020\/03\/14\/coronavirus-chaque-jour-compte\/\">I associated myself to this message<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Prior to confinement, on February&nbsp;25<sup>th<\/sup>, 2020, the <a title=\"IHU M\u00e9diterran\u00e9e-infection\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mediterranee-infection.com\/en\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">IHU&nbsp;M\u00e9diterran\u00e9e-infection<\/a> released a video stating that a molecule derived from <a title=\"Quinine\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Quinine\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">quinine<\/a>, being chloroquine, is an effective treatment against COVID-19:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"660\" height=\"372\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/8L6ehRif-v8?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=fr-FR&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span>\n<\/div><figcaption>Didier&nbsp;Raoult, 2020. \u2018Coronavirus\u202f: vers une sortie de crise\u202f?\u2019, <em>IHU&nbsp;M\u00e9diterran\u00e9e-infection<\/em>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>This was the starting point for a major media coverage of chloroquine and another derivative from quinine, being hydroxychloroquine. Since this media coverage is extremely problematic, I would like to try to give you some clearer insights. The first goal of this article will be to give you some reliable sources, as quite a lot of uninteresting opinions were given, and too few facts. Yet the facts are there. This article will therefore not contain any opinion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Organisation of this document<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>As usual in this journal, following an academic practice, references to printed publications are given in footnotes. For this article, I have been able to provide links to online versions of all these references and I strongly encourage you to consult them. Overall, the footnotes serve to structure the information, but in no way constitute secondary information. As is customary on the Internet, sources published on websites are presented as hyperlinks in the text. These sources are of equal importance. As some events reported here originate in France, some references are in French.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A <a title=\"PDF version\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/cloud.le-bars.net\/index.php\/s\/g8EmlDQY4LZatEi\" target=\"_blank\">PDF version<\/a> of this article is available. An <a title=\"Audio version\" href=\"https:\/\/cloud.le-bars.net\/index.php\/s\/VF0pC2SozfjRP6k\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">audio version<\/a> (with quite a robotic voice) is also available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Understanding clinical trial methodology<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Though serious COVID-19 cases require heavy clinical cares, in fact this is these cases that put hospitals under strong pressure, the infection is generally a benign one: <a title=\"Covid-19 : y a-t-il une place pour l\u2019hydroxychloroquine\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cnge.fr\/conseil_scientifique\/productions_du_conseil_scientifique\/covid_19_y_t_il_une_place_pour_lhydroxychloroquine\/\" target=\"_blank\">more than 80\u202f% of patients spontaneously regain good health<\/a>. Therefore, a vital question is how to determine if a drug is effective against some illness. For example, if a patient is recovering from the disease, and imagining that, while he or she was ill, he or she ate salsify with butter every day, how can we determine if this dish had any role in the patient\u2019s recovery?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>By the way, I think you have guessed it: the reason I chose this example is that there is absolutely no evidence that salsify could be a cure for the disease. It goes without saying, but it is better to say it: there have already been too many premature announcements about this pandemic, let\u2019s not add to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>How to go beyond the anecdotal stage to determine that a treatment has been identified? Furthermore, there is an important point to consider.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A long-identified problem<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>In volume one, first book, in chapter&nbsp;XXI of his <em>Essays<\/em>, <a title=\"Michel de Montaigne\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Michel_de_Montaigne\" target=\"_blank\">Michel&nbsp;de&nbsp;Montaigne<\/a> reports the case of a merchant from French city <a title=\"Toulouse\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Toulouse\" target=\"_blank\">Toulouse<\/a> who suffered from <a title=\"Renal colic\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Renal_colic\" target=\"_blank\">renal colic<\/a>, and to whom an apothecary regularly administered <a title=\"Enema\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Enema\" target=\"_blank\">clysters<\/a>. However, the apothecary did not actually inject him with anything at all<span class=\"footnote_referrer\"><a role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToReference_3862_1('footnote_plugin_reference_3862_1_3');\" onkeypress=\"footnote_moveToReference_3862_1('footnote_plugin_reference_3862_1_3');\" ><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_3862_1_3\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\">3<\/sup><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3862_1_3\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\">Michel&nbsp;de&nbsp;Montaigne, 1580. <em>Essais<\/em>, Simon&nbsp;Millanges editor, Bordeaux, French&nbsp;Kingdom. <a title=\"Essais\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"http:\/\/bribes.org\/trismegiste\/montable.htm\" target=\"_blank\">Available on-line<\/a>. An English translation by Charles&nbsp;Cotton: Michel&nbsp;de&nbsp;Montaigne, 1877. <em>Essays<\/em>, William&nbsp;Carew&nbsp;Hazlitt editor, London, United&nbsp;Kingdom. <a title=\"Essays\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikisource.org\/wiki\/The_Essays_of_Montaigne\" target=\"_blank\">Available on-line<\/a>.<\/span><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3862_1_3').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3862_1_3', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top right', relative: true, offset: [10, 10], });<\/script>. However, these pseudo-enema did relieve the patient, so that an effect did occur.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These are called \u201ccontextual effects\u201d: a treatment is characterized not only by its active ingredient, but also by its entire context, including the expectations of the patient as well as those of the therapist. These contextual effects are variable, but can have a rather dramatic impact and are neither a form of illusion, nor a mental problem: the context clearly has a part in a treatment, so much so that in some cases the active ingredient itself has no additional effect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Addressing this issue<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Therefore, testing a treatment by simply administering it to a patient, telling him there is good hope to cure him or her with it, does not allow determining whether the active ingredient actually brings something more than contextual effects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To solve this, patients treated with the new treatment are compared to a group of patients that are not, which group is called the control group. However, the context may differ, since in one group patients receive a drug, while they do not in the control group. As a consequence, the contextual effects will vary. To correct this problem, the control group is given a treatment that is identical in all respects, such as shape, colour and odour, to the one tested, but for which there is no active ingredient. This fake drug is known as a <a title=\"Placebo\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Placebo\" target=\"_blank\">placebo<\/a>, and such a test is a placebo-controlled test.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, depending on whether patients are told that they are receiving the tested drug or a placebo, their expectations will not be the same, so again the context is different. The patients tested are therefore not informed whether they are given the active ingredient or the placebo: this is a simply-blinded test.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But the context is still not the same: if the person administering the treatment knows whether it is a placebo or not, his or her expectations are not the same and his or her attitude is different, even unintentionally. As a result, the caregiver should also not know whether he or she is administering the active ingredient or the placebo: this is a double-blinding test.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While the context is now the same in all cases, there is one last problem to be solved. Indeed, one can easily understand that if, for example, one group consists mainly of Olympic champions while the other is made up of seniors, the tests will be biased. In order to avoid this problem, many subjects must be available and distributed in such a way that the two groups are comparable. This is achieved by randomly assign the subjects to one group or the other, while ensuring that the characteristics of the two groups are statistically equivalent. This is referred to as a randomized trial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The need for caution<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>To properly discern the specific effects of an active ingredient, it is therefore necessary to conduct randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled or reference treatment-controlled trials. Of course, there is a procedure in case of worsening of the health of a patient participating in the trials, but the overall principle is the one explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Contrary to what can be stated here and there, an emergency situation can never justify not following a rigorous methodology: an active ingredient, even after encouraging in vitro tests, may perfectly fail to treat and can even worsen patient\u2019s health. This was already the case for chloroquine when it was tested against chikungunya<span class=\"footnote_referrer\"><a role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToReference_3862_1('footnote_plugin_reference_3862_1_4');\" onkeypress=\"footnote_moveToReference_3862_1('footnote_plugin_reference_3862_1_4');\" ><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_3862_1_4\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\">4<\/sup><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3862_1_4\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\">Franck&nbsp;Touret and Xavier&nbsp;de&nbsp;Lamballerie, 2020. \u2018Of Chloroquine and COVID-19\u2019, <em>Antiviral&nbsp;Research<\/em> 177. <span style=\"font-variant: small-caps;\">Doi<\/span>: <a title=\"Of Chloroquine and COVID-19\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.antiviral.2020.104762\" target=\"_blank\">10.1016\/j.antiviral.2020.104762<\/a><\/span><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3862_1_4').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3862_1_4', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top right', relative: true, offset: [10, 10], });<\/script>. Beyond chikungunya, after encouraging in vitro tests, chloroquine has already proved unusable in vivo in the case of dengue fever, Ebola, SRAS-3 and HIV, among others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Chloroquine can cause heart problems, sometimes fatal, and other adverse effects. It is not a substance to be used lightly. In particular, <a title=\"Chloroquine\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"http:\/\/www.inchem.org\/documents\/pims\/pharm\/chloroqu.htm\" target=\"_blank\">it leaves very little room for manoeuvre<\/a>, as the therapeutic dose is 20\u202fmg\/kg of body mass on average, for a toxic dose at 30\u202fmg\/kg and lethal at 40\u202fmg\/kg. Also, its half-life is very long, which means that it will take a long time to completely disappear from the body.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Before launching a treatment, it is therefore necessary to determine the benefits it really brings against the risks it poses: this is called the benefit-risk balance, which can only be assessed using a rigorous methodology. It is far too dangerous to administer active substances without having properly determined what the consequences may be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">An inconclusive first study<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Shortly after its announcement, the IHU&nbsp;M\u00e9diterran\u00e9e-infection published a study on a trial of hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for COVID-19<span class=\"footnote_referrer\"><a role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToReference_3862_1('footnote_plugin_reference_3862_1_5');\" onkeypress=\"footnote_moveToReference_3862_1('footnote_plugin_reference_3862_1_5');\" ><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_3862_1_5\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\">5<\/sup><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3862_1_5\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\">Philippe&nbsp;Gautret, Jean-Christophe&nbsp;Lagier, Philippe&nbsp;Parola, Van&nbsp;Thuang&nbsp;Hoang, Line&nbsp;Meddeb, Morgane&nbsp;Mailhe, Barbara&nbsp;Doudier, Johan&nbsp;Courjon, Val\u00e9rie&nbsp;Giordanengo, Vera&nbsp;Esteves&nbsp;Vieira, Herv\u00e9&nbsp;Tissot&nbsp;Dupont, St\u00e9phane&nbsp;Honor\u00e9, Philippe&nbsp;Colson, Eric&nbsp;Chabri\u00e8re, Bernard&nbsp;La&nbsp;Scola, Jean-Marc&nbsp;Rolain, Philippe&nbsp;Brouqui, and Didier&nbsp;Raoult, 2020. \u2018Hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin as a treatment of COVID-19: results of an open-label non-randomized clinical trial\u2019, <em>International&nbsp;Journal&nbsp;of&nbsp;Antimicrobial&nbsp;Agents<\/em>. <span style=\"font-variant: small-caps;\">Doi<\/span>: <a title=\"Hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin as a treatment of COVID-19: results of an open-label non-randomized clinical trial\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.ijantimicag.2020.105949\" target=\"_blank\">10.1016\/j.ijantimicag.2020.105949<\/a><\/span><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3862_1_5').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3862_1_5', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top right', relative: true, offset: [10, 10], });<\/script>, using it on patients with mild symptoms. I invite all readers to consult it, as doing so at least allows realizing what is and what is not in it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The standard in science is to discuss each other\u2019s work. On the one hand, this allows on the one hand the dissemination of new results, but also, on the other hand, it facilitates the search for errors. The advent of the Internet has made this commentary process even more effective. Therefore, specialists in the field immediately commented on this article, <a title=\"The discussion on Pubpeer\" href=\"https:\/\/pubpeer.com\/publications\/B4044A446F35DF81789F6F20F8E0EE#1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">in particular by using the specialized platform Pubpeer<\/a>. Once again, I invite you to consult this discussion. Among other things, you will see that, contrary to what we hear, it does not discuss Didier&nbsp;Raoult\u2019s physical appearance, personality, or whether he is inside or outside the system. It only discusses the methodology and statistical quality of this publication.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Incidentally, it is contradictory to say, on the one hand, that Didier&nbsp;Raoult is a unit director and a great professor admired by his peers and, on the other hand, to claim that he is not part of the system. If Didier&nbsp;Raoult is indeed the internationally renowned specialist described by Didier&nbsp;Raoult<span class=\"footnote_referrer\"><a role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToReference_3862_1('footnote_plugin_reference_3862_1_6');\" onkeypress=\"footnote_moveToReference_3862_1('footnote_plugin_reference_3862_1_6');\" ><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_3862_1_6\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\">6<\/sup><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3862_1_6\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\">In particular, one should look carefully at the name of the author of <a title=\"Les scientifiques de l\u2019IHU de Marseille parmi les plus cit\u00e9 du Monde\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.mediapart.fr\/didier-raoult\/blog\/030119\/les-scientifiques-de-l-ihu-de-marseille-parmi-les-plus-cites-du-monde\" target=\"_blank\">the article about Didier&nbsp;Raoult<\/a> published on January&nbsp;3<sup>rd<\/sup>, 2019 on the Club&nbsp;Mediapart blog platform.<\/span><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3862_1_6').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3862_1_6', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top right', relative: true, offset: [10, 10], });<\/script>, then he is an integral part of the system. Anyway, his person has no interest in the case. All that matters are the results. Therefore, this article will not discuss him any further.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Precisely, the analysis of the publication shows that the study of the IHU&nbsp;M\u00e9diterran\u00e9e-infection is not significant. Here are the most essential elements:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>This is not a randomized double-blind placebo-controlled study: a group of patients with COVID-19 was treated with a mixture of hydoxychloroquine and azithromycin (an antibiotic) at IHU&nbsp;M\u00e9diterran\u00e9e-infection, and the data obtained were compared with those obtained from patients treated at another institution who received neither hydroxychloroquine nor azithromycin, the method of selection of these patients being unclear.<\/li><li>The study involves but a few subjects, namely 26. Among them, 6 (or 23\u202f% of the original population) were excluded from the study. Of these, two who stopped treatment or left hospital before the end of follow-up, which changes the statistical characteristics of the group, especially since the cohort originally contained few patients (this is known as attrition bias). Three were transferred to an intensive care unit. Finally, one died. The results seem all the more positive as the disappointing cases, which in this case all belonged to the group treated by the IHU&nbsp;M\u00e9diterran\u00e9e-infection, were removed from the study.<\/li><li>The used test declares several patients positive to COVID-19 one day, negative a few days later and then a little later positive again. This is one of the specificities of COVID-19 disease: the viral load in the nasopharynx changes over time and it is not uncommon for it to be undetectable in the worsening phase of the disease. Many people are negative in the days preceding their death, which was the case of the person treated at the IHU&nbsp;M\u00e9diterran\u00e9e-infection who died during this study. In any case, referring only to the nasopharyngeal viral load to conclude to a remission is widely criticized.<\/li><li>The group treated with chloroquine is compared to a group of 16 people followed in another facility, with no guarantee that the protocols for assessing viral load are the same or conducted in the same way.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Clearly, this study does not allow any conclusions as to the effectiveness of the treatment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A no more conclusive second study<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>On March&nbsp;27<sup>th<\/sup>, 2020, the IHU&nbsp;M\u00e9diterran\u00e9e-infection released a preparatory version of an article detailing not clinical trials, but an observation of 80 cases of COVID-19 patients, once again presenting rather mild symptoms, who were administrating a mixture of hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin<span class=\"footnote_referrer\"><a role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToReference_3862_1('footnote_plugin_reference_3862_1_7');\" onkeypress=\"footnote_moveToReference_3862_1('footnote_plugin_reference_3862_1_7');\" ><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_3862_1_7\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\">7<\/sup><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3862_1_7\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\">Philippe&nbsp;Gautret, Jean-Christophe&nbsp;Lagier, Philippe&nbsp;Parola, Van&nbsp;Thuan&nbsp;Hoang, Line&nbsp;Meddeb, Jacques&nbsp;Sevestre, Morgane&nbsp;Maihle, Barbara&nbsp;Doudier, Camille&nbsp;Aubry, Sophie&nbsp;Amrane, Piseth&nbsp;Seng, Marie&nbsp;Hocquart, Julie&nbsp;Finance, Vera&nbsp;Esteves&nbsp;Vieira, Herv\u00e9&nbsp;Tissot&nbsp;Dupont, St\u00e9phane&nbsp;Honor\u00e9, Andreas&nbsp;Stein, Matthieu&nbsp;Million, Philippe&nbsp;Colson, Bernard&nbsp;La&nbsp;Scola, V\u00e9ronique&nbsp;Veit, Alexis&nbsp;Jacquier, Jean-Claude&nbsp;Deharo, Michel&nbsp;Drancourt, Pierre&nbsp;Edouard&nbsp;Fournier, Jean-Marc&nbsp;Rolain, Philippe&nbsp;Brouqui, and Didier&nbsp;Raoult, in preparation. \u2018Hydroxychloroquine-Azithromycin and COVID-19\u2019. <a title=\"Hydroxychloroquine-Azithromycin and COVID-19\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mediterranee-infection.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/COVID-IHU-2-1.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">Available on-line<\/a>.<\/span><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3862_1_7').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3862_1_7', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top right', relative: true, offset: [10, 10], });<\/script>. To my knowledge, as of April&nbsp;7<sup>th<\/sup>, 2020, this article has not yet been submitted to a journal or a prepublication website. There was also no control group for this study.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Among these cases, 83\u202f% were negative on the COVID-19 test after seven days of treatment, 93\u202f% were negative after eight days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, the article does not give every detail of its statistical methodology. In addition, the method for reporting whether patients are positive or negative for the disease changes over the course of the study. Finally, given the population tested and the absence of a control group, this case study still does not allow to draw any conclusion about the effectiveness of the treatment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A counter-study no more significant<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>In response to these two studies, another was also made available on March&nbsp;30<sup>th<\/sup>, 2020, describing the case of 11 patients severely affected by COVID-19<span class=\"footnote_referrer\"><a role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToReference_3862_1('footnote_plugin_reference_3862_1_8');\" onkeypress=\"footnote_moveToReference_3862_1('footnote_plugin_reference_3862_1_8');\" ><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_3862_1_8\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\">8<\/sup><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3862_1_8\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\">Jean-Michel&nbsp;Molina, Constance&nbsp;Delaugerre, Jerome&nbsp;Le&nbsp;Goff, Breno&nbsp;Mela-Lima, Diane&nbsp;Ponscarme, Lauriane&nbsp;Goldwirt, and Nathalie&nbsp;de&nbsp;Castro, 2020. \u2018No Evidence of rapid antiviral clearance or clinical benefit with the combination of hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin in patients with severe COVID-19 infection\u2019, <em>M\u00e9decine&nbsp;et&nbsp;Maladies&nbsp;Infectieuses<\/em>. <span style=\"font-variant: small-caps;\">Doi<\/span>: <a title=\"No Evidence of rapid antiviral clearance or clinical benefit with the combination of hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin in patients with severe COVID-19 infection\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.medmal.2020.03.006\" target=\"_blank\">10.1016\/j.medmal.2020.03.006<\/a><\/span><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3862_1_8').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3862_1_8', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top right', relative: true, offset: [10, 10], });<\/script>. Once again, this was not a clinical trial and the study was only conducted over a short period (5 days), the number of cases being too small to be significant anyway. However, the study concludes that treatment with hydroxychloroquine does not provide any benefit to severely affected patients.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What the Chinese are up to?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Chinese studies exploring chloroquine versus COVID-19 are also discussed. What about them?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">First mentions of the chloroquine trail<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>There are indeed two publications indicating that the chloroquine trail is encouraging. One is a letter<span class=\"footnote_referrer\"><a role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToReference_3862_1('footnote_plugin_reference_3862_1_9');\" onkeypress=\"footnote_moveToReference_3862_1('footnote_plugin_reference_3862_1_9');\" ><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_3862_1_9\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\">9<\/sup><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3862_1_9\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\">Jianjun&nbsp;Gao, Zhenxue&nbsp;Tian, and Xu&nbsp;Yang, 2020. \u2018Breakthrough: Chloroquine phosphate has shown apparent efficacy in treatment of COVID-19 associated pneumonia in clinical studies\u2019, <em>BioScience&nbsp;Trends<\/em> 14&nbsp;(1), pp.\u202f72\u202f\u2013\u202f73. <span style=\"font-variant: small-caps;\">Doi<\/span>: <a title=\"Breakthrough: Chloroquine phosphate has shown apparent efficacy in treatment of COVID-19 associated pneumonia in clinical studies\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.5582\/bst.2020.01047\" target=\"_blank\">10.5582\/bst.2020.01047<\/a><\/span><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3862_1_9').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3862_1_9', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top right', relative: true, offset: [10, 10], });<\/script> that provides no data and is therefore unusable, the other is an article<span class=\"footnote_referrer\"><a role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToReference_3862_1('footnote_plugin_reference_3862_1_10');\" onkeypress=\"footnote_moveToReference_3862_1('footnote_plugin_reference_3862_1_10');\" ><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_3862_1_10\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\">10<\/sup><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3862_1_10\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\">Manli&nbsp;Wang, Ruiyuan&nbsp;Cao, Leike&nbsp;Zhang, Xinglou&nbsp;Yang, Jia&nbsp;Liu, Mingyue&nbsp;Xu, Zhengli&nbsp;Shi, Zhihong&nbsp;Hu, Wu&nbsp;Zhong, and Gengfu&nbsp;Xiao, 2020. \u2018Remdesivir and chloroquine effectively inhibit the recently emerged novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in vitro\u2019, <em>Cell&nbsp;Research<\/em> 30, pp.\u202f269\u202f\u2013\u202f271. <span style=\"font-variant: small-caps;\">Doi<\/span>: <a title=\"Remdesivir and chloroquine effectively inhibit the recently emerged novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in vitro\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1038\/s41422-020-0282-0\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038\/s41422-020-0282-0<\/a><\/span><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3862_1_10').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3862_1_10', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top right', relative: true, offset: [10, 10], });<\/script> reporting on in vitro tests. However, as we have seen, encouraging in vitro results do not necessarily imply that the treatment will be usable in vivo. This is far too weak to say that a treatment has been found.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Case studies<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Still, there are larger Chinese studies, two published in <em>The&nbsp;Lancet<\/em><span class=\"footnote_referrer\"><a role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToReference_3862_1('footnote_plugin_reference_3862_1_11');\" onkeypress=\"footnote_moveToReference_3862_1('footnote_plugin_reference_3862_1_11');\" ><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_3862_1_11\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\">11<\/sup><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3862_1_11\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\">Chaolin&nbsp;Huang, Yeming&nbsp;Wang, Xingwang&nbsp;Li, Lili&nbsp;Ren, Jianping&nbsp;Zhao, Yi&nbsp;Hu, Li&nbsp;Zhang, Guohui&nbsp;Fan, Jiuyang&nbsp;Xu, Xiaoying&nbsp;Gu, Zhenshun&nbsp;Cheng, Ting&nbsp;Yu, Jiaan&nbsp;Xia, Yuan&nbsp;Wei, Wenjuan&nbsp;Wu, Xuelei&nbsp;Xie, Wen&nbsp;Yin, Hui&nbsp;Li, Min&nbsp;Liu, Yan&nbsp;Xiao, Hong&nbsp;Gao, Li&nbsp;Guo, Jungang&nbsp;Xie, Guangfa&nbsp;Wang, Rongmeng&nbsp;Jiang, Zhancheng&nbsp;Gao, Qi&nbsp;Jin, Jianwei&nbsp;Wang, and Bin&nbsp;Cao, 2020. \u2018Clinical features of patients infected with 2019 novel coronavirus in Wuhan, China\u2019, <em>The&nbsp;Lancet<\/em> 395&nbsp;(10,223), pp.&nbsp;497\u202f\u2013\u202f506. <span style=\"font-variant: small-caps;\">Doi<\/span>: <a title=\"Clinical features of patients infected with 2019 novel coronavirus in Wuhan, China\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/S0140-6736(20)30183-5\" target=\"_blank\">10.1016\/S0140-6736(20)30183-5<\/a><\/span><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3862_1_11').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3862_1_11', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top right', relative: true, offset: [10, 10], });<\/script>\u202f<span class=\"footnote_referrer\"><a role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToReference_3862_1('footnote_plugin_reference_3862_1_12');\" onkeypress=\"footnote_moveToReference_3862_1('footnote_plugin_reference_3862_1_12');\" ><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_3862_1_12\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\">12<\/sup><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3862_1_12\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\">Nanshan&nbsp;Chen, Min&nbsp;Zhou, Xuan&nbsp;Dong, Jieming&nbsp;Qu, Fengyun&nbsp;Gong, Yang&nbsp;Han, Yang&nbsp;Qiu, Jingi&nbsp;Wang, Ying&nbsp;Liu, Yuan&nbsp;Wei, Jia\u2019an&nbsp;Xia, Ting&nbsp;Yu, Xinxin&nbsp;Zhang, and Li&nbsp;Zhang, 2020. \u2018Epidemiological and clinical characteristics of 99 cases of 2019 novel coronavirus pneumonia in Wuhan, China: a descriptive study\u2019, <em>The&nbsp;Lancet<\/em> 395&nbsp;(10,223), pp.&nbsp;507\u202f\u2013\u202f513. <span style=\"font-variant: small-caps;\">Doi<\/span>: <a title=\"Epidemiological and clinical characteristics of 99 cases of 2019 novel coronavirus pneumonia in Wuhan, China: a descriptive study\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/S0140-6736(20)30211-7\" target=\"_blank\">10.1016\/S0140-6736(20)30211-7<\/a><\/span><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3862_1_12').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3862_1_12', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top right', relative: true, offset: [10, 10], });<\/script> and one in <em>The&nbsp;New&nbsp;England&nbsp;Journal&nbsp;of&nbsp;Medicine<\/em><span class=\"footnote_referrer\"><a role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToReference_3862_1('footnote_plugin_reference_3862_1_13');\" onkeypress=\"footnote_moveToReference_3862_1('footnote_plugin_reference_3862_1_13');\" ><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_3862_1_13\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\">13<\/sup><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3862_1_13\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\">Wei-jei&nbsp;Guan, Zheng-yi&nbsp;Ni, Yu&nbsp;Hu, Wen-hua&nbsp;Liang, Chun-quan&nbsp;Ou, Jian-xing&nbsp;He, Lei&nbsp;Liu, Hong&nbsp;Shan, Chun-Liang&nbsp;Lei, David&nbsp;S.&nbsp;C.&nbsp;Hui, Bin&nbsp;Du, Lan-juan&nbsp;Li, Guang&nbsp;Zeng, Kwok-Yung&nbsp;Yuen, Ru-chong&nbsp;Chen, Chun-li&nbsp;Tang, Tao&nbsp;Wang, Ping-yan&nbsp;Chen, Jie&nbsp;Xiang, Shi-yue&nbsp;Li, Jin-lin&nbsp;Wang, Zi-jing&nbsp;Liang, Yi-xiang&nbsp;Peng, Li&nbsp;Wei, Yong&nbsp;Liu, Ya-hua&nbsp;Hu, Peng&nbsp;Peng, Jian-ming&nbsp;Wang, Ji-yang&nbsp;Liu, Zhong&nbsp;Chen, Gang&nbsp;Li, Zhi-jian&nbsp;Zheng, Shao-qin&nbsp;Qiu, Jie&nbsp;Luo, Chang-jiang&nbsp;Ye, Shao-yong&nbsp;Zhu, and Nan-shan&nbsp;Zhong, 2020. \u2018Clinical Characteristics of Coronavirus Disease 2019 in China\u2019, <em>New&nbsp;England&nbsp;Journal&nbsp;of&nbsp;Medicine<\/em>. <span style=\"font-variant: small-caps;\">Doi<\/span>: <a title=\"Clinical Characteristics of Coronavirus Disease 2019 in China\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1056\/NEJMoa2002032\" target=\"_blank\">10.1056\/NEJMoa2002032<\/a><\/span><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3862_1_13').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3862_1_13', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top right', relative: true, offset: [10, 10], });<\/script>. These articles describe the medical cares given to many patients with COVID-19. These studies are called observational studies: unlike clinical trials, the aim is not to test a treatment, but to describe the symptoms and course of the disease. This allows for gathering valuable information to health care personnel. However, such a study is insufficient to inform a specific treatment and in any case in the studies in question the use of chloroquine is punctual.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Exploring the chloroquine trail<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>On the other hand, there is a Chinese study indicating that there is no significant difference between patients with COVID-19 treated with hydroxychloroquine compared to patients not receiving this treatment<span class=\"footnote_referrer\"><a role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToReference_3862_1('footnote_plugin_reference_3862_1_14');\" onkeypress=\"footnote_moveToReference_3862_1('footnote_plugin_reference_3862_1_14');\" ><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_3862_1_14\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\">14<\/sup><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3862_1_14\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\">Chen&nbsp;Jun, Liu&nbsp;Danping, Liu&nbsp;Li, Liu&nbsp;Ping, Xu&nbsp;Qingnian, Xia&nbsp;Lu, Ling&nbsp;Yun, Huang&nbsp;Dan, Song&nbsp;Shuli, Zhang&nbsp;Dandan, Qian&nbsp;Zhiping, Li&nbsp;Tao, Shen&nbsp;Yinzhong, and Lu&nbsp;Hongzhou, 2020. \u2018A pilot study of hydroxychloroquine in treatment of patients with common coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19)\u2019, <em>Journal&nbsp;of&nbsp;ZheJiang&nbsp;University&nbsp;(Medical&nbsp;Sciences)<\/em> 49&nbsp;(1). <a title=\"A pilot study of hydroxychloroquine in treatment of patients with common coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19)\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"http:\/\/www.zjujournals.com\/med\/EN\/10.3785\/j.issn.1008-9292.2020.03.03\" target=\"_blank\">Available on-line.<\/a><\/span><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3862_1_14').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3862_1_14', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top right', relative: true, offset: [10, 10], });<\/script>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Finally, results of a clinical trial of hydroxychloroquine were pre-published on March&nbsp;30<sup>th<\/sup>, 2020<span class=\"footnote_referrer\"><a role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToReference_3862_1('footnote_plugin_reference_3862_1_15');\" onkeypress=\"footnote_moveToReference_3862_1('footnote_plugin_reference_3862_1_15');\" ><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_3862_1_15\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\">15<\/sup><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3862_1_15\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\">Zhaowei&nbsp;Chen, Jijia&nbsp;Hu, Zongwei&nbsp;Zhang, Shan&nbsp;Jiang, Shoumeng&nbsp;Han, Dandan&nbsp;Yan, Ruhong&nbsp;Zuhang, Ben&nbsp;Hu, and Zhan&nbsp;Zhang, in preparation. \u2018Efficacy of hydroxychloroquine in patients with COVID-19: results of a randomized clinical trial\u2019. Medrxiv&nbsp;<span style=\"font-variant: small-caps;\">doi<\/span>: <a title=\"Efficacy of hydroxychloroquine in patients with COVID-19: results of a randomized clinical trial\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.medrxiv.org\/content\/10.1101\/2020.03.22.20040758v1\" target=\"_blank\">10.1101\/2020.03.22.20040758<\/a>. Not expertized.<\/span><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3862_1_15').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3862_1_15', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top right', relative: true, offset: [10, 10], });<\/script>. The protocol consists of a 6-day monitoring\u2014measuring the condition of patients before treatment, then after 5 days of treatment\u2014on the impact of administrating 400\u202fmg daily of hydroxychloroquine to patients with mild pneumonia (with cough and fever). The purpose was to estimate the effectiveness of hydroxychloroquine treatment on the improvement of mild symptoms, hopefully avoiding their worsening and thus the need of intensive care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Although this study claims to be a double-blind, placebo-controlled study, this is not the case: both groups received the same care, except that one group received in addition chloroquine, while the control group did not receive placebo. This is therefore an open-label study. Furthermore, the sample size is quite small, with 31 subjects in the control group and 31 in the hydroxychloroquine group. Moreover, its duration is rather short, 6 days, whereas it is now shown that the evolution towards a serious form is frequent after 6 to 10 days and this despite a frequent transient clinical improvement before aggravation. Furthermore, the most serious cases\u2014that is, those most in need of treatment since, as we have seen, mild cases tend to heal spontaneously\u2014were excluded from the study: during the period of inclusion in the study, 142 patients were confirmed as suffering from COVID-19 and the reason the cohort was reduced to 62 subjects is not clear. On the other hand, side effects were reported: two mild cases of migraine and rash.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The alleged results are the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>a one-day reduction in the average duration of fever\u2014however, in the context of COVID-19, this criterion is not necessarily clinically significant;<\/li><li>a one-day reduction in the average duration of cough;<\/li><li>slight improvement in the progression of pneumonia.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>In addition to the methodological shortcomings already noted, the evolution of pneumonia was followed only radiographically and other possible criteria (such as <a title=\"Arterial blood gas test\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Arterial_blood_gas_test\" target=\"_blank\">arterial blood gas<\/a><span class=\"footnote_referrer\"><a role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToReference_3862_1('footnote_plugin_reference_3862_1_16');\" onkeypress=\"footnote_moveToReference_3862_1('footnote_plugin_reference_3862_1_16');\" ><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_3862_1_16\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\">16<\/sup><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3862_1_16\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\">Arterial blood gas test is a test widely used in pneumology and reanimation. It consists of detecting gases dissolved in the blood and makes it possible to evaluate a patient\u2019s respiratory function.<\/span><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3862_1_16').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3862_1_16', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top right', relative: true, offset: [10, 10], });<\/script>) were not taken into account. Moreover, the methodology does not allow to draw any conclusion on the impact of hydroxychloroquine concerning the contagiousness of patients after treatment. In addition, existing risk factors, such as smoking or pregnancy, are not indicated although they may impact the results. Therefore, it is not possible to fully ascertain the homogeneity of the two groups. Moreover, the study only included relatively young patients with mild symptoms, whereas it would have been interesting to compare the results with older and more severely affected patients, that is to say, once again, those most in need of management. All in all, it is highly likely that the study sample is not representative. In any case, the small number of patients makes it difficult to extrapolate the results to the whole population.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Although this study concludes that there is a slight improvement in symptoms, it is anecdotal and the study is methodologically and statistically weak. Moreover, the study itself notes that the balance between benefit (gain of one day on certain symptoms) and risk (variable side effects) remains unclear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>All in all, Chinese studies do not lead to be really optimistic regarding chloroquine as a treatment for COVID-19.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Be rational: be cautious<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A problem with methodology<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>As you have seen, most of the studies cited in this article are inconclusive. There are two major reasons for this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The first is that scientific publications are a way for different teams of researchers to communicate with each other. For these teams, it is very useful to know what trails are being explored and whether these trails seem likely to prove successful. When a team finds that a lead is not very successful, it is useful information for other teams working on the same subject. However, great care and caution should be exercised when communicating about such studies to non-specialists, to avoid the risk of confusion. Generally, in such a context, it is even preferable not to talk about these non-significant studies at all, because for someone not working on the subject, they simply do not provide any information. In times of crisis, when bad information can have very bad consequences, it is advisable to be even more careful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the communication about chloroquine, however, some teams have departed from caution. The generalist media have be attacked and blamed for focusing on studies that did not deserve such focus, but the fact is that the communication of some specialists was simply incomprehensible. Logically, general media did not understand anything, which led to a great deal of confusion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The researcher has a responsibility when communication to the public. Some have freed themselves from this responsibility in order to highlight their work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The second reason is that some teams tend to free themselves at least partly from the rigour necessary for a scientific study. As a result, poor quality studies are regularly proposed. Generally, they do not pass the barrier of peer review. Some, however, are published all the same. The mechanism of continuous reviews and re-evaluations allows those involved in the discipline to identify these problematic cases. However, in the case of COVID-19, such studies were discussed without waiting for this process to operate and these flawed studies were highlighted, adding to the confusion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In recent times a view seems to grow in popularity, stating that there are circumstances that would justify a departure from the scientific method, or even that this method would be a hindrance. However, the current situation does not support this view at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One element on which the scientific method was built on the systematic minimization of error, as everyone makes mistakes. You have to be aware of them and arm yourself to be able to identify them. Furthermore, this article tries to show that even in times of crisis, accurate and prudential communication can be achieved. Also, at the time of writing, there are teams working on a treatment against COVID-19 using a strong methodology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Chloroquine and consequences<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>At the time of writing, it cannot be said that chloroquine is an effective treatment for COVID-19, nor can it be said that it is not. We must wait a least for the results of the <a title=\"Launch of a european clinical trial against COVID-19\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/presse.inserm.fr\/en\/launch-of-a-european-clinical-trial-against-covid-19\/38737\/\" target=\"_blank\">Discovery clinical trial<\/a>, large-scale tests that have been launched throughout Europe, to have reliable information on the effectiveness of the treatments being considered. Even with such a large study, uncertainties are likely to persist. Let\u2019s take this opportunity to recall that the IHU&nbsp;M\u00e9dit\u00e9rann\u00e9e-infection team is far from being the only one working on this issue and that hydroxychloroquine is only one of the leads for treating the disease.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, the effect of the communication on chloroquine is to <a title=\"Les m\u00e9decins face \u00e0 la demande de chloroquine des patients\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.liberation.fr\/direct\/element\/les-medecins-face-a-la-demande-de-chloroquine-des-patients_111359\/\" target=\"_blank\">add even more pressure on health care teams<\/a> and provoking <a title=\"Arizona Man Dies From Chloroquine Overdose After Listening to Trump Coronavirus Press Conference\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/slate.com\/news-and-politics\/2020\/03\/arizona-man-dies-chloroquine-trump-coronavirus-advice.html\" target=\"_blank\">irrational acts of taking substances just because it says \u201cchloroquine\u201d on it<\/a>. Also, some testimonials (which should not be overgeneralized) from teams participating in the Discovery study indicate <a title=\"Le buzz sur la chloroquine freine l\u2019essai clinique europ\u00e9en Discovery\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.liberation.fr\/france\/2020\/03\/26\/le-buzz-sur-la-chloroquine-freine-l-essai-clinique-europeen-discovery_1783176\" target=\"_blank\">that the media coverage of chloroquine led some volunteers to want to be part of the group treated with hydroxychloroquine to the exclusion of all other<\/a>, in defiance with the methodology. An opportunity in our misfortune: the number of patients is unfortunately high and consequently there are enough volunteers to simply dismiss those who come with such demands. Moreover, <a title=\"Didier Raoult: A French Doctor, Hydroxychloroquine And Conspiracy Theories\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/worldcrunch.com\/coronavirus\/didier-raoult-a-french-doctor-hydroxychloroquine-and-conspiracy-theories\" target=\"_blank\">this catastrophic communication has been the starting point for many conspiracy theories<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Please keep in mind that as of April&nbsp;7<sup>th<\/sup>, 2020 there is no evidence to determine whether chloroquine is useful in the treatment of COVID-19 and whether it has a positive benefit\/risk balance. For this reason, among others, <a title=\"Covid-19 : y a-t-il une place pour l\u2019hydroxychloroquine\u202f?\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cnge.fr\/conseil_scientifique\/productions_du_conseil_scientifique\/covid_19_y_t_il_une_place_pour_lhydroxychloroquine\/\" target=\"_blank\">the recommendation to general practitioners is, according to the current state of knowledge, not to prescribe chloroquine in case of symptoms of COVID-19<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Even if chloroquine were to prove effective against COVID-19, it must be borne in mind that there are contraindications to its use, so that the prescription cannot in any way be automated. In the event of symptoms of COVID-19, do not try to force physicians in prescribing any variant of chloroquine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In any case, as of April&nbsp;7<sup>th<\/sup>, 2020, there is no proven treatment for COVID-19 and the only method we have for limiting hospital overcrowding is to adhere to containment and barrier gestures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Acknowledgements<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>I would like to thank my fellows from <a title=\"Caf\u00e9 des sciences\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cafe-sciences.org\/\" target=\"_blank\">Caf\u00e9&nbsp;des&nbsp;sciences<\/a> for reviewing this article:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Thibault&nbsp;Fiolet, specialist in epidemiology and food risk assessment, <a title=\"Quoi dans mon assiette\u202f?\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/quoidansmonassiette.fr\/\" target=\"_blank\">Quoi&nbsp;dans&nbsp;mon&nbsp;assiette\u202f?<\/a>;<\/li><li>Jean, specialist in cryosphere, <a title=\"I Need space\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCW-Qte750fJkyM-geafGf2Q\" target=\"_blank\">I&nbsp;Need&nbsp;space<\/a>;<\/li><li>Cyril&nbsp;Vidal, dental surgeon, <a title=\"Dans les dents\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCL-qPiVsxCEFg8FeBsTY4Jw\" target=\"_blank\">Dans les dents<\/a>;<\/li><li>Corentin&nbsp;Lacroix, physician, <a title=\"Why Doc\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.whydoc.fr\/\" target=\"_blank\">Why&nbsp;Doc<\/a>;<\/li><li>Erik&nbsp;Gustafsson, psychologist, <a title=\"Science pour parents\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"http:\/\/www.sciencepourparents.fr\/\" target=\"_blank\">Science&nbsp;pour&nbsp;parents<\/a>;<\/li><li>Nicolas&nbsp;Minier, specialized in bioengineering, <a title=\"BioRev\u00b3\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCtBB-Zq3v2ncoq3CoobrY_g\" target=\"_blank\">BioRev\u00b3<\/a>;<\/li><li>Marc&nbsp;Robinson-Rechavi, specialist in bioinformatics, <a title=\"Tout se passe comme si\" href=\"http:\/\/toutsepassecommesi.cafe-sciences.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Tout&nbsp;se&nbsp;passe&nbsp;comme&nbsp;si<\/a>.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n<div class=\"speaker-mute footnotes_reference_container\"> <div class=\"footnote_container_prepare\"><p><span role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" class=\"footnote_reference_container_label pointer\" onclick=\"footnote_expand_collapse_reference_container_3862_1();\">Notes<\/span><span role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" class=\"footnote_reference_container_collapse_button\" style=\"display: none;\" onclick=\"footnote_expand_collapse_reference_container_3862_1();\">[<a id=\"footnote_reference_container_collapse_button_3862_1\">+<\/a>]<\/span><\/p><\/div> <div id=\"footnote_references_container_3862_1\" style=\"\"><table class=\"footnotes_table footnote-reference-container\"><caption class=\"accessibility\">Notes<\/caption> <tbody> \r\n\r\n<tr class=\"footnotes_plugin_reference_row\"> <th scope=\"row\" class=\"footnote_plugin_index_combi pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_3862_1('footnote_plugin_tooltip_3862_1_1');\"><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_3862_1_1\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>1<\/a><\/th> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\">Josephine&nbsp;Ma, March&nbsp;13<sup>th<\/sup>, 2020. \u2018Coronavirus: China\u2019s first confirmed Covid-19 case traced back to November 17\u2019, <em>South&nbsp;China&nbsp;Morning&nbsp;Post<\/em>. <a title=\"oronavirus: China\u2019s first confirmed Covid-19 case traced back to November 17\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/news\/china\/society\/article\/3074991\/coronavirus-chinas-first-confirmed-covid-19-case-traced-back\" target=\"_blank\">Available on-line<\/a>.<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr class=\"footnotes_plugin_reference_row\"> <th scope=\"row\" class=\"footnote_plugin_index_combi pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_3862_1('footnote_plugin_tooltip_3862_1_2');\"><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_3862_1_2\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>2<\/a><\/th> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\">World&nbsp;Health Organization (WHO), March&nbsp;11<sup>th<\/sup>, 2020. <em>WHO Director-General\u2019s opening remarks at the media briefing on COVID-19<\/em>, WHO. <a title=\"WHO Director-General\u2019s opening remarks at the media briefing on COVID-19\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.who.int\/dg\/speeches\/detail\/who-director-general-s-opening-remarks-at-the-media-briefing-on-covid-19---11-march-2020\" target=\"_blank\">Available on-line<\/a>.<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr class=\"footnotes_plugin_reference_row\"> <th scope=\"row\" class=\"footnote_plugin_index_combi pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_3862_1('footnote_plugin_tooltip_3862_1_3');\"><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_3862_1_3\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>3<\/a><\/th> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\">Michel&nbsp;de&nbsp;Montaigne, 1580. <em>Essais<\/em>, Simon&nbsp;Millanges editor, Bordeaux, French&nbsp;Kingdom. <a title=\"Essais\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"http:\/\/bribes.org\/trismegiste\/montable.htm\" target=\"_blank\">Available on-line<\/a>. An English translation by Charles&nbsp;Cotton: Michel&nbsp;de&nbsp;Montaigne, 1877. <em>Essays<\/em>, William&nbsp;Carew&nbsp;Hazlitt editor, London, United&nbsp;Kingdom. <a title=\"Essays\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikisource.org\/wiki\/The_Essays_of_Montaigne\" target=\"_blank\">Available on-line<\/a>.<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr class=\"footnotes_plugin_reference_row\"> <th scope=\"row\" class=\"footnote_plugin_index_combi pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_3862_1('footnote_plugin_tooltip_3862_1_4');\"><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_3862_1_4\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>4<\/a><\/th> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\">Franck&nbsp;Touret and Xavier&nbsp;de&nbsp;Lamballerie, 2020. \u2018Of Chloroquine and COVID-19\u2019, <em>Antiviral&nbsp;Research<\/em> 177. <span style=\"font-variant: small-caps;\">Doi<\/span>: <a title=\"Of Chloroquine and COVID-19\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.antiviral.2020.104762\" target=\"_blank\">10.1016\/j.antiviral.2020.104762<\/a><\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr class=\"footnotes_plugin_reference_row\"> <th scope=\"row\" class=\"footnote_plugin_index_combi pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_3862_1('footnote_plugin_tooltip_3862_1_5');\"><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_3862_1_5\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>5<\/a><\/th> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\">Philippe&nbsp;Gautret, Jean-Christophe&nbsp;Lagier, Philippe&nbsp;Parola, Van&nbsp;Thuang&nbsp;Hoang, Line&nbsp;Meddeb, Morgane&nbsp;Mailhe, Barbara&nbsp;Doudier, Johan&nbsp;Courjon, Val\u00e9rie&nbsp;Giordanengo, Vera&nbsp;Esteves&nbsp;Vieira, Herv\u00e9&nbsp;Tissot&nbsp;Dupont, St\u00e9phane&nbsp;Honor\u00e9, Philippe&nbsp;Colson, Eric&nbsp;Chabri\u00e8re, Bernard&nbsp;La&nbsp;Scola, Jean-Marc&nbsp;Rolain, Philippe&nbsp;Brouqui, and Didier&nbsp;Raoult, 2020. \u2018Hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin as a treatment of COVID-19: results of an open-label non-randomized clinical trial\u2019, <em>International&nbsp;Journal&nbsp;of&nbsp;Antimicrobial&nbsp;Agents<\/em>. <span style=\"font-variant: small-caps;\">Doi<\/span>: <a title=\"Hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin as a treatment of COVID-19: results of an open-label non-randomized clinical trial\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.ijantimicag.2020.105949\" target=\"_blank\">10.1016\/j.ijantimicag.2020.105949<\/a><\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr class=\"footnotes_plugin_reference_row\"> <th scope=\"row\" class=\"footnote_plugin_index_combi pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_3862_1('footnote_plugin_tooltip_3862_1_6');\"><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_3862_1_6\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>6<\/a><\/th> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\">In particular, one should look carefully at the name of the author of <a title=\"Les scientifiques de l\u2019IHU de Marseille parmi les plus cit\u00e9 du Monde\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.mediapart.fr\/didier-raoult\/blog\/030119\/les-scientifiques-de-l-ihu-de-marseille-parmi-les-plus-cites-du-monde\" target=\"_blank\">the article about Didier&nbsp;Raoult<\/a> published on January&nbsp;3<sup>rd<\/sup>, 2019 on the Club&nbsp;Mediapart blog platform.<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr class=\"footnotes_plugin_reference_row\"> <th scope=\"row\" class=\"footnote_plugin_index_combi pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_3862_1('footnote_plugin_tooltip_3862_1_7');\"><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_3862_1_7\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>7<\/a><\/th> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\">Philippe&nbsp;Gautret, Jean-Christophe&nbsp;Lagier, Philippe&nbsp;Parola, Van&nbsp;Thuan&nbsp;Hoang, Line&nbsp;Meddeb, Jacques&nbsp;Sevestre, Morgane&nbsp;Maihle, Barbara&nbsp;Doudier, Camille&nbsp;Aubry, Sophie&nbsp;Amrane, Piseth&nbsp;Seng, Marie&nbsp;Hocquart, Julie&nbsp;Finance, Vera&nbsp;Esteves&nbsp;Vieira, Herv\u00e9&nbsp;Tissot&nbsp;Dupont, St\u00e9phane&nbsp;Honor\u00e9, Andreas&nbsp;Stein, Matthieu&nbsp;Million, Philippe&nbsp;Colson, Bernard&nbsp;La&nbsp;Scola, V\u00e9ronique&nbsp;Veit, Alexis&nbsp;Jacquier, Jean-Claude&nbsp;Deharo, Michel&nbsp;Drancourt, Pierre&nbsp;Edouard&nbsp;Fournier, Jean-Marc&nbsp;Rolain, Philippe&nbsp;Brouqui, and Didier&nbsp;Raoult, in preparation. \u2018Hydroxychloroquine-Azithromycin and COVID-19\u2019. <a title=\"Hydroxychloroquine-Azithromycin and COVID-19\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mediterranee-infection.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/COVID-IHU-2-1.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">Available on-line<\/a>.<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr class=\"footnotes_plugin_reference_row\"> <th scope=\"row\" class=\"footnote_plugin_index_combi pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_3862_1('footnote_plugin_tooltip_3862_1_8');\"><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_3862_1_8\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>8<\/a><\/th> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\">Jean-Michel&nbsp;Molina, Constance&nbsp;Delaugerre, Jerome&nbsp;Le&nbsp;Goff, Breno&nbsp;Mela-Lima, Diane&nbsp;Ponscarme, Lauriane&nbsp;Goldwirt, and Nathalie&nbsp;de&nbsp;Castro, 2020. \u2018No Evidence of rapid antiviral clearance or clinical benefit with the combination of hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin in patients with severe COVID-19 infection\u2019, <em>M\u00e9decine&nbsp;et&nbsp;Maladies&nbsp;Infectieuses<\/em>. <span style=\"font-variant: small-caps;\">Doi<\/span>: <a title=\"No Evidence of rapid antiviral clearance or clinical benefit with the combination of hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin in patients with severe COVID-19 infection\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.medmal.2020.03.006\" target=\"_blank\">10.1016\/j.medmal.2020.03.006<\/a><\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr class=\"footnotes_plugin_reference_row\"> <th scope=\"row\" class=\"footnote_plugin_index_combi pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_3862_1('footnote_plugin_tooltip_3862_1_9');\"><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_3862_1_9\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>9<\/a><\/th> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\">Jianjun&nbsp;Gao, Zhenxue&nbsp;Tian, and Xu&nbsp;Yang, 2020. \u2018Breakthrough: Chloroquine phosphate has shown apparent efficacy in treatment of COVID-19 associated pneumonia in clinical studies\u2019, <em>BioScience&nbsp;Trends<\/em> 14&nbsp;(1), pp.\u202f72\u202f\u2013\u202f73. <span style=\"font-variant: small-caps;\">Doi<\/span>: <a title=\"Breakthrough: Chloroquine phosphate has shown apparent efficacy in treatment of COVID-19 associated pneumonia in clinical studies\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.5582\/bst.2020.01047\" target=\"_blank\">10.5582\/bst.2020.01047<\/a><\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr class=\"footnotes_plugin_reference_row\"> <th scope=\"row\" class=\"footnote_plugin_index_combi pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_3862_1('footnote_plugin_tooltip_3862_1_10');\"><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_3862_1_10\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>10<\/a><\/th> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\">Manli&nbsp;Wang, Ruiyuan&nbsp;Cao, Leike&nbsp;Zhang, Xinglou&nbsp;Yang, Jia&nbsp;Liu, Mingyue&nbsp;Xu, Zhengli&nbsp;Shi, Zhihong&nbsp;Hu, Wu&nbsp;Zhong, and Gengfu&nbsp;Xiao, 2020. \u2018Remdesivir and chloroquine effectively inhibit the recently emerged novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in vitro\u2019, <em>Cell&nbsp;Research<\/em> 30, pp.\u202f269\u202f\u2013\u202f271. <span style=\"font-variant: small-caps;\">Doi<\/span>: <a title=\"Remdesivir and chloroquine effectively inhibit the recently emerged novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in vitro\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1038\/s41422-020-0282-0\" target=\"_blank\">10.1038\/s41422-020-0282-0<\/a><\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr class=\"footnotes_plugin_reference_row\"> <th scope=\"row\" class=\"footnote_plugin_index_combi pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_3862_1('footnote_plugin_tooltip_3862_1_11');\"><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_3862_1_11\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>11<\/a><\/th> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\">Chaolin&nbsp;Huang, Yeming&nbsp;Wang, Xingwang&nbsp;Li, Lili&nbsp;Ren, Jianping&nbsp;Zhao, Yi&nbsp;Hu, Li&nbsp;Zhang, Guohui&nbsp;Fan, Jiuyang&nbsp;Xu, Xiaoying&nbsp;Gu, Zhenshun&nbsp;Cheng, Ting&nbsp;Yu, Jiaan&nbsp;Xia, Yuan&nbsp;Wei, Wenjuan&nbsp;Wu, Xuelei&nbsp;Xie, Wen&nbsp;Yin, Hui&nbsp;Li, Min&nbsp;Liu, Yan&nbsp;Xiao, Hong&nbsp;Gao, Li&nbsp;Guo, Jungang&nbsp;Xie, Guangfa&nbsp;Wang, Rongmeng&nbsp;Jiang, Zhancheng&nbsp;Gao, Qi&nbsp;Jin, Jianwei&nbsp;Wang, and Bin&nbsp;Cao, 2020. \u2018Clinical features of patients infected with 2019 novel coronavirus in Wuhan, China\u2019, <em>The&nbsp;Lancet<\/em> 395&nbsp;(10,223), pp.&nbsp;497\u202f\u2013\u202f506. <span style=\"font-variant: small-caps;\">Doi<\/span>: <a title=\"Clinical features of patients infected with 2019 novel coronavirus in Wuhan, China\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/S0140-6736(20)30183-5\" target=\"_blank\">10.1016\/S0140-6736(20)30183-5<\/a><\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr class=\"footnotes_plugin_reference_row\"> <th scope=\"row\" class=\"footnote_plugin_index_combi pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_3862_1('footnote_plugin_tooltip_3862_1_12');\"><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_3862_1_12\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>12<\/a><\/th> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\">Nanshan&nbsp;Chen, Min&nbsp;Zhou, Xuan&nbsp;Dong, Jieming&nbsp;Qu, Fengyun&nbsp;Gong, Yang&nbsp;Han, Yang&nbsp;Qiu, Jingi&nbsp;Wang, Ying&nbsp;Liu, Yuan&nbsp;Wei, Jia\u2019an&nbsp;Xia, Ting&nbsp;Yu, Xinxin&nbsp;Zhang, and Li&nbsp;Zhang, 2020. \u2018Epidemiological and clinical characteristics of 99 cases of 2019 novel coronavirus pneumonia in Wuhan, China: a descriptive study\u2019, <em>The&nbsp;Lancet<\/em> 395&nbsp;(10,223), pp.&nbsp;507\u202f\u2013\u202f513. <span style=\"font-variant: small-caps;\">Doi<\/span>: <a title=\"Epidemiological and clinical characteristics of 99 cases of 2019 novel coronavirus pneumonia in Wuhan, China: a descriptive study\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/S0140-6736(20)30211-7\" target=\"_blank\">10.1016\/S0140-6736(20)30211-7<\/a><\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr class=\"footnotes_plugin_reference_row\"> <th scope=\"row\" class=\"footnote_plugin_index_combi pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_3862_1('footnote_plugin_tooltip_3862_1_13');\"><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_3862_1_13\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>13<\/a><\/th> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\">Wei-jei&nbsp;Guan, Zheng-yi&nbsp;Ni, Yu&nbsp;Hu, Wen-hua&nbsp;Liang, Chun-quan&nbsp;Ou, Jian-xing&nbsp;He, Lei&nbsp;Liu, Hong&nbsp;Shan, Chun-Liang&nbsp;Lei, David&nbsp;S.&nbsp;C.&nbsp;Hui, Bin&nbsp;Du, Lan-juan&nbsp;Li, Guang&nbsp;Zeng, Kwok-Yung&nbsp;Yuen, Ru-chong&nbsp;Chen, Chun-li&nbsp;Tang, Tao&nbsp;Wang, Ping-yan&nbsp;Chen, Jie&nbsp;Xiang, Shi-yue&nbsp;Li, Jin-lin&nbsp;Wang, Zi-jing&nbsp;Liang, Yi-xiang&nbsp;Peng, Li&nbsp;Wei, Yong&nbsp;Liu, Ya-hua&nbsp;Hu, Peng&nbsp;Peng, Jian-ming&nbsp;Wang, Ji-yang&nbsp;Liu, Zhong&nbsp;Chen, Gang&nbsp;Li, Zhi-jian&nbsp;Zheng, Shao-qin&nbsp;Qiu, Jie&nbsp;Luo, Chang-jiang&nbsp;Ye, Shao-yong&nbsp;Zhu, and Nan-shan&nbsp;Zhong, 2020. \u2018Clinical Characteristics of Coronavirus Disease 2019 in China\u2019, <em>New&nbsp;England&nbsp;Journal&nbsp;of&nbsp;Medicine<\/em>. <span style=\"font-variant: small-caps;\">Doi<\/span>: <a title=\"Clinical Characteristics of Coronavirus Disease 2019 in China\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1056\/NEJMoa2002032\" target=\"_blank\">10.1056\/NEJMoa2002032<\/a><\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr class=\"footnotes_plugin_reference_row\"> <th scope=\"row\" class=\"footnote_plugin_index_combi pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_3862_1('footnote_plugin_tooltip_3862_1_14');\"><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_3862_1_14\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>14<\/a><\/th> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\">Chen&nbsp;Jun, Liu&nbsp;Danping, Liu&nbsp;Li, Liu&nbsp;Ping, Xu&nbsp;Qingnian, Xia&nbsp;Lu, Ling&nbsp;Yun, Huang&nbsp;Dan, Song&nbsp;Shuli, Zhang&nbsp;Dandan, Qian&nbsp;Zhiping, Li&nbsp;Tao, Shen&nbsp;Yinzhong, and Lu&nbsp;Hongzhou, 2020. \u2018A pilot study of hydroxychloroquine in treatment of patients with common coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19)\u2019, <em>Journal&nbsp;of&nbsp;ZheJiang&nbsp;University&nbsp;(Medical&nbsp;Sciences)<\/em> 49&nbsp;(1). <a title=\"A pilot study of hydroxychloroquine in treatment of patients with common coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19)\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"http:\/\/www.zjujournals.com\/med\/EN\/10.3785\/j.issn.1008-9292.2020.03.03\" target=\"_blank\">Available on-line.<\/a><\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr class=\"footnotes_plugin_reference_row\"> <th scope=\"row\" class=\"footnote_plugin_index_combi pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_3862_1('footnote_plugin_tooltip_3862_1_15');\"><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_3862_1_15\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>15<\/a><\/th> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\">Zhaowei&nbsp;Chen, Jijia&nbsp;Hu, Zongwei&nbsp;Zhang, Shan&nbsp;Jiang, Shoumeng&nbsp;Han, Dandan&nbsp;Yan, Ruhong&nbsp;Zuhang, Ben&nbsp;Hu, and Zhan&nbsp;Zhang, in preparation. \u2018Efficacy of hydroxychloroquine in patients with COVID-19: results of a randomized clinical trial\u2019. Medrxiv&nbsp;<span style=\"font-variant: small-caps;\">doi<\/span>: <a title=\"Efficacy of hydroxychloroquine in patients with COVID-19: results of a randomized clinical trial\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.medrxiv.org\/content\/10.1101\/2020.03.22.20040758v1\" target=\"_blank\">10.1101\/2020.03.22.20040758<\/a>. Not expertized.<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr class=\"footnotes_plugin_reference_row\"> <th scope=\"row\" class=\"footnote_plugin_index_combi pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_3862_1('footnote_plugin_tooltip_3862_1_16');\"><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_3862_1_16\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>16<\/a><\/th> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\">Arterial blood gas test is a test widely used in pneumology and reanimation. It consists of detecting gases dissolved in the blood and makes it possible to evaluate a patient\u2019s respiratory function.<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n <\/tbody> <\/table> <\/div><\/div><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> function footnote_expand_reference_container_3862_1() { jQuery('#footnote_references_container_3862_1').show(); jQuery('#footnote_reference_container_collapse_button_3862_1').text('\u2212'); } function footnote_collapse_reference_container_3862_1() { jQuery('#footnote_references_container_3862_1').hide(); jQuery('#footnote_reference_container_collapse_button_3862_1').text('+'); } function footnote_expand_collapse_reference_container_3862_1() { if (jQuery('#footnote_references_container_3862_1').is(':hidden')) { footnote_expand_reference_container_3862_1(); } else { footnote_collapse_reference_container_3862_1(); } } function footnote_moveToReference_3862_1(p_str_TargetID) { footnote_expand_reference_container_3862_1(); var l_obj_Target = jQuery('#' + p_str_TargetID); if (l_obj_Target.length) { jQuery( 'html, body' ).delay( 0 ); jQuery('html, body').animate({ scrollTop: l_obj_Target.offset().top - window.innerHeight * 0.2 }, 380); } } function footnote_moveToAnchor_3862_1(p_str_TargetID) { footnote_expand_reference_container_3862_1(); var l_obj_Target = jQuery('#' + p_str_TargetID); if (l_obj_Target.length) { jQuery( 'html, body' ).delay( 0 ); jQuery('html, body').animate({ scrollTop: l_obj_Target.offset().top - window.innerHeight * 0.2 }, 380); } }<\/script>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This article is written under rather peculiar circumstances, in fact quite dramatic ones to say the least: after a first case declared on November&nbsp;17th, 20191Josephine&nbsp;Ma, March&nbsp;13th, 2020. \u2018Coronavirus: China\u2019s first confirmed Covid-19 case traced back to November 17\u2019, South&nbsp;China&nbsp;Morning&nbsp;Post. Available on-line., a COVID-19 pandemic2World&nbsp;Health Organization (WHO), March&nbsp;11th, 2020. WHO Director-General\u2019s opening remarks at the media &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/le-bars.net\/yoann\/en\/2020\/04\/07\/on-chloroquine\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continuer la lecture de <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">On Chloroquine<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[50],"tags":[107,69],"class_list":["post-3862","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-science-en","tag-science-en","tag-scientific-popularisation"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.1.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>On Chloroquine &#8211; Vu d\u2019ici<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"An understandable review of the scientific publications concerning chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine as a cure against COVID-19.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/le-bars.net\/yoann\/en\/2020\/04\/07\/on-chloroquine\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"fr_FR\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"On Chloroquine &#8211; Vu d\u2019ici\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"An understandable review of the scientific publications concerning chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine as a cure against COVID-19.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/le-bars.net\/yoann\/en\/2020\/04\/07\/on-chloroquine\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Vu d\u2019ici\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-04-07T21:49:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-04-12T12:54:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/7\/76\/Novel_Coronavirus_SARS-CoV-2.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Yoann Le Bars\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"\u00c9crit par\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Yoann Le Bars\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Dur\u00e9e de lecture estim\u00e9e\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"24 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/le-bars.net\/yoann\/en\/2020\/04\/07\/on-chloroquine\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/le-bars.net\/yoann\/en\/2020\/04\/07\/on-chloroquine\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Yoann Le Bars\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/le-bars.net\/yoann\/#\/schema\/person\/90c5a2de7ad2db1184bbe140ebea1576\"},\"headline\":\"On Chloroquine\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-04-07T21:49:25+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-04-12T12:54:51+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/le-bars.net\/yoann\/en\/2020\/04\/07\/on-chloroquine\/\"},\"wordCount\":4792,\"commentCount\":1,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/le-bars.net\/yoann\/#\/schema\/person\/90c5a2de7ad2db1184bbe140ebea1576\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/le-bars.net\/yoann\/en\/2020\/04\/07\/on-chloroquine\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/7\/76\/Novel_Coronavirus_SARS-CoV-2.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Science\",\"Scientific popularisation\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Science\"],\"inLanguage\":\"fr-FR\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/le-bars.net\/yoann\/en\/2020\/04\/07\/on-chloroquine\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/le-bars.net\/yoann\/en\/2020\/04\/07\/on-chloroquine\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/le-bars.net\/yoann\/en\/2020\/04\/07\/on-chloroquine\/\",\"name\":\"On Chloroquine &#8211; 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This August, several interesting phenomena will be observable. It takes place during a year rich in astronomical events, including Rosetta and New Horizons missions. If you are in France, the French Association for Astronomy offers a list of\u2026","rel":"","context":"Dans &quot;Science&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Science","link":"https:\/\/le-bars.net\/yoann\/en\/category\/science-en\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Apparent movements of stars around Polaris","src":"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/c\/c3\/Steve_Ryan_-_Stars_around_Polaris_-_Day_62_%28by-sa%29.jpg","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/c\/c3\/Steve_Ryan_-_Stars_around_Polaris_-_Day_62_%28by-sa%29.jpg 1x, https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/c\/c3\/Steve_Ryan_-_Stars_around_Polaris_-_Day_62_%28by-sa%29.jpg 1.5x, https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/c\/c3\/Steve_Ryan_-_Stars_around_Polaris_-_Day_62_%28by-sa%29.jpg 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":184,"url":"https:\/\/le-bars.net\/yoann\/en\/2015\/04\/14\/gunter-grass-is-deceased\/","url_meta":{"origin":3862,"position":1},"title":"G\u00fcnter\u00a0Grass is deceased","author":"Yoann Le Bars","date":"14 avril 2015","format":"aside","excerpt":"The German writer and literature Nobel prize holder G\u00fcnter\u00a0Grass is deceased this Monday 13 April 2015, in a clinic in L\u00fcbeck. His first published novel is also his most renowned: Die Blechtrommel (The Tin Drum), published in 1959((G.\u00a0Grass, 1959. Die Blechtrommel, Hermann Luchterhand Verlag.)). The film adapted from it in\u2026","rel":"","context":"Dans &quot;Culture&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Culture","link":"https:\/\/le-bars.net\/yoann\/en\/category\/culture-en\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"http:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/6\/60\/G%C3%BCnter_Grass_auf_dem_Blauen_Sofa.jpg","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"http:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/6\/60\/G%C3%BCnter_Grass_auf_dem_Blauen_Sofa.jpg 1x, http:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/6\/60\/G%C3%BCnter_Grass_auf_dem_Blauen_Sofa.jpg 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":274,"url":"https:\/\/le-bars.net\/yoann\/en\/2015\/05\/15\/could-wolf-be-a-man-to-the-man-and-reciprocally\/","url_meta":{"origin":3862,"position":2},"title":"Could the Wolf be a man to the Man (and reciprocally)?","author":"Yoann Le Bars","date":"15 mai 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Ultimately, breeding and agriculture have enabled for an increase in life expectancy of the human species. But, at its beginning, that is to say the first hundreds of years of experimentations, these practises could have seemed rather negative: agriculture and sedentary breeding induced a rhythm of life more tiring than\u2026","rel":"","context":"Dans &quot;Science&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Science","link":"https:\/\/le-bars.net\/yoann\/en\/category\/science-en\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Loups gris communs","src":"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/c\/ce\/Eurasischer_Wolf_Tiergarten_Worms_2011.JPG","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/c\/ce\/Eurasischer_Wolf_Tiergarten_Worms_2011.JPG 1x, https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/c\/ce\/Eurasischer_Wolf_Tiergarten_Worms_2011.JPG 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1371,"url":"https:\/\/le-bars.net\/yoann\/en\/2015\/08\/20\/how-i-extended-galileos-work\/","url_meta":{"origin":3862,"position":3},"title":"How I extended Galileo\u2019s work!","author":"Yoann Le Bars","date":"20 ao\u00fbt 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"I have already mentioned it: it is about time that I present the topics that I am interested in my work. As I have indicated on this site home page and as can be deduced from my resume, my areas of expertise are applied mathematics and theoretical computer science. My\u2026","rel":"","context":"Dans &quot;Science&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Science","link":"https:\/\/le-bars.net\/yoann\/en\/category\/science-en\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Spring tide in Wimereux","src":"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/4\/4e\/Wimereux_Spring_Tide.jpg","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/4\/4e\/Wimereux_Spring_Tide.jpg 1x, https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/4\/4e\/Wimereux_Spring_Tide.jpg 1.5x, https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/4\/4e\/Wimereux_Spring_Tide.jpg 2x, https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/4\/4e\/Wimereux_Spring_Tide.jpg 3x, https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/4\/4e\/Wimereux_Spring_Tide.jpg 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3462,"url":"https:\/\/le-bars.net\/yoann\/en\/2018\/03\/12\/did-copernicus-really-make-the-scientific-revolution\/","url_meta":{"origin":3862,"position":4},"title":"Did Copernicus really made the (scientific) revolution?","author":"Yoann Le Bars","date":"12 mars 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"In this blog and elsewhere, you have probably already seen the expression \u201cCopernican revolution\u201d. This expression highlights the fact that Nicolaus\u00a0Copernicus (1473 \u2013 1543) provoked a major change in perspectives by showing that it is more relevant to consider this is the Earth that is rotating around the Sun rather\u2026","rel":"","context":"Dans &quot;Science&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Science","link":"https:\/\/le-bars.net\/yoann\/en\/category\/science-en\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Nicolaus\u00a0Copernicus","src":"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/f\/f2\/Nikolaus_Kopernikus.jpg","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/f\/f2\/Nikolaus_Kopernikus.jpg 1x, https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/f\/f2\/Nikolaus_Kopernikus.jpg 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3099,"url":"https:\/\/le-bars.net\/yoann\/en\/2017\/04\/04\/falling-bodies-galileo-sets-up-aristotle-to-the-fall\/","url_meta":{"origin":3862,"position":5},"title":"Falling bodies: Galileo sets up Aristotle to the fall","author":"Yoann Le Bars","date":"4 avril 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"As seen twice with a view from here, works from Nicolaus\u00a0Copernicus (1473 \u2013 1543), Giordano\u00a0Bruno (1548 \u2013 1600), Johannes\u00a0Kepler (1571 \u2013 1630) and Galileo\u00a0Galilei (1564 \u2013 1642), which have been preceded by those of Nicole\u00a0Oresme (circa 1320-1322 \u2013 1382), completely challenged the Aristotelian model. In this questioning, Galileo did not\u2026","rel":"","context":"Dans &quot;Science&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Science","link":"https:\/\/le-bars.net\/yoann\/en\/category\/science-en\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Galileo GALILEI","src":"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/d\/d4\/Justus_Sustermans_-_Portrait_of_Galileo_Galilei%2C_1636.jpg","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/d\/d4\/Justus_Sustermans_-_Portrait_of_Galileo_Galilei%2C_1636.jpg 1x, https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/d\/d4\/Justus_Sustermans_-_Portrait_of_Galileo_Galilei%2C_1636.jpg 1.5x, https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/d\/d4\/Justus_Sustermans_-_Portrait_of_Galileo_Galilei%2C_1636.jpg 2x, https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/d\/d4\/Justus_Sustermans_-_Portrait_of_Galileo_Galilei%2C_1636.jpg 3x, https:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/d\/d4\/Justus_Sustermans_-_Portrait_of_Galileo_Galilei%2C_1636.jpg 4x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/le-bars.net\/yoann\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3862","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/le-bars.net\/yoann\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/le-bars.net\/yoann\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/le-bars.net\/yoann\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/le-bars.net\/yoann\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3862"}],"version-history":[{"count":77,"href":"https:\/\/le-bars.net\/yoann\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3862\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3995,"href":"https:\/\/le-bars.net\/yoann\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3862\/revisions\/3995"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/le-bars.net\/yoann\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3862"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/le-bars.net\/yoann\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3862"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/le-bars.net\/yoann\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3862"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}