Key Considerations for the Pharmaceutical Care of COVID-19 Patients Treated with Hydroxychloroquine

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is wreaking global havoc, and the number of new cases and deaths continues to increase. Hydroxychloroquine was approved by FDA on March 29th, 2020 for the emergency treatment of COVID-19, which has aroused great concern worldwide. It was also recommended by Experts' Consensus of Shanghai over Comprehensive Treatment of COVID-19. Published literature reported clinical applications or researches with different regimens, however, whether hydroxychloroquine is safe and effective still remains highly controvercial. These results have provoked some thoughts:is there a correlation between clinical efficacy and different regimens? Can effective pharmaceutical care reduce the incidence of adverse reactions? Hydroxychloroquine is a commonly used drug for the treatment of malaria, rheumatoid arthritis and other diseases, and its pharmacological effects and in vivo process have been systematically reported. This article focuses on the long half-life, large apparent distribution volume and pharmacological characteristics of hydroxychloroquine, and discusses the therapeutic regimens and key points of clinical pharmaceutical care, so as to provide reference for the clinical application of hydroxychloroquine in the treatment of COVID-19.