As safety concerns prompt several

countries to reconsider the controversial

use of a malaria drug to treat COVID-19,
India’s government is recommending
that front-line workers take the medicine
to prevent infection. Researchers say the
advice is premature and risky, because
there is limited evidence that the drug,
hydroxychloroquine, works against the
new coronavirus, and there are a growing
number of reports that it can trigger
serious side effects.
There is no vaccine for the new
coronavirus, so the prospect of a widely
available drug such as
hydroxychloroquine — and a similar
compound, chloroquine — reducing
infection risk is appealing, especially in
parts of India where high population
density makes social distancing difficult.
Many people around the world, including
US President Donald Trump, have taken
the drug in the hope it might prevent
infection. But, at this stage, there is
almost no evidence that the drug works
in this way, and the results of several
randomized and placebo-controlled
prophylaxis trials under way in the
United States, Europe and South Asia
have not been published.