Coronavirus: Singapore study suggests hydroxychloroquine and throat spray could protect against infection
- The findings indicate a ‘viable preventive strategy’ against the spread of Covid-19 in high-transmission settings such as dormitories, cruise ships and prisons
- At the height of the pandemic last year, some of Singapore’s largest clusters emerged among the city state’s migrant workers, housed in crowded dormitories
Their findings, which were presented to the media on Friday, were based on a study of more than 3,000 migrant workers living in Tuas South Dormitory during the height of the Covid-19 outbreak in May last year.
Hydroxychloroquine is a prescription drug used to treat malaria and arthritis while povidone-iodine throat sprays are over-the-counter medications that provide symptomatic relief of sore throat.
The study, the largest on Covid-19 preventive therapy involving these drugs, was published in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases on April 14.
Associate professor Raymond Seet, the study’s lead author, said only two methods besides vaccines have been effective in reducing the transmission of the coronavirus: wearing masks and social distancing.