The objectives of PROVIDE are to: 1. Determine if prophylactic once weekly hydroxychloroquine reduces the incidence of conversion from SARS-2-CoVnasopharyngeal swab negative to positive 2. To determine if weekly prophylactic hydroxychloroquine reduced the severity of COVID-19 symptoms 3. To determine the safety of taking weekly prophylactic hydroxychloroquine
Drug: Apo-Hydroxychloroquine
Hydroxychloroquine sulfate 400mg PO BID on day one, then 400mg PO weekly, to be taken with meals for two months total.
Drug: Matched Placebo
Matching Placebo
Inclusion Criteria:
- 18 years of age or older to participate.
- Healthcare workers with primary practice in intensive care unit, general internal
medicine,
- COVID-19 testing centres, emergency rooms, and nursing homes.
- COVID_19 symptom free at the time of randomization and have a negative diagnostic
swab.
Exclusion Criteria:
- Known COVID-19 positivity defined as: a laboratory confirmed case as defined by the
local public health institutes
- Suspected COVID-19 positivity defined as possessing symptoms consistent with COVID-19
infections such as: headache, fever, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, dyspnea, dry cough
- Healthcare workers with pre-existing retinopathy or serious visual problems
- Healthcare workers with known malignancies receiving active chemotherapy or immune
modifying medications
- Healthcare workers with known autoimmune disorders
- Healthcare workers with known QT prolongation
- History of ventricular arrhythmias
- Participants at risk of malignant arrythmias ○ At risk defined as: A sudden loss of
consciousness with injury; anyone in their immediate family, under the age of 45year,
with sudden cardiac death; anyone family history of long QT syndrome
- Known sensitivity/allergy to hydroxychloroquine
- Healthcare workers that are currently pregnant
- Healthcare workers that are already taking chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine
- Healthcare workers on colchicine or any other anti-viral medication
- Healthcare workers taking a medication that may interact with hydroxychloroquine
(see table below
- Inability to take oral medications
- Inability to provide written consent
- Known G6PD deficiency
St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada