Hydroxychloroquine

Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ), sold under the brand name Plaquenil among others, is a medication used for the prevention and treatment of certain types of malaria. Specifically it is used for chloroquine-sensitive malaria. Other uses include treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, and porphyria cutanea tarda. It is taken by mouth. Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ), sold under the brand name Plaquenil among others, is a medication used for the prevention and treatment of certain types of malaria. Specifically it is used for chloroquine-sensitive malaria. Other uses include treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, and porphyria cutanea tarda. It is taken by mouth. Common side effects include vomiting, headache, changes in vision and muscle weakness. Severe side effects may include allergic reactions. It appears to be safe in pregnancy but this use has not been well studied. Hydroxychloroquine is in the antimalarial and 4-aminoquinoline families of medication. Hydroxychloroquine was approved for medical use in the United States in 1955. It is on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines, the most effective and safe medicines needed in a health system. The wholesale cost in the developing world is about $5.40 to 7.44 per month. In the United Kingdom this dose costs the NHS about £5.15. In the United States a month of treatment typically costs less than $25. In 2016 it was the 135th most prescribed medication in the United States with more than 4 million prescriptions. Hydroxychloroquine treats malaria, systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatic disorders like rheumatoid arthritis, porphyria cutanea tarda, and Q fever. In 2014 its efficacy to treat Sjögren syndrome was questioned in a double-blind study involving 120 patients over a 48-week period. Hydroxychloroquine is widely used in the treatment of post-Lyme arthritis. It may have both an anti-spirochaete activity and an anti-inflammatory activity, similar to the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. The most common adverse effects are a mild nausea and occasional stomach cramps with mild diarrhea. The most serious adverse effects affect the eye. For short-term treatment of acute malaria, adverse effects can include abdominal cramps, diarrhea, heart problems, reduced appetite, headache, nausea and vomiting. For prolonged treatment of lupus or arthritis, adverse effects include the acute symptoms, plus altered eye pigmentation, acne, anaemia, bleaching of hair, blisters in mouth and eyes, blood disorders, convulsions, vision difficulties, diminished reflexes, emotional changes, excessive coloring of the skin, hearing loss, hives, itching, liver problems or liver failure, loss of hair, muscle paralysis, weakness or atrophy, nightmares, psoriasis, reading difficulties, tinnitus, skin inflammation and scaling, skin rash, vertigo, weight loss, and occasionally urinary incontinence. Hydroxychloroquine can worsen existing cases of both psoriasis and porphyria.