TY - JOUR T1 - Still early to define a clear role of antimalarial drugs for COVID-19 in patients with rheumatic disease. Response to: ‘Hydroxychloroquine reduces the risk of covid-19 in patients with rheumatic diseases: myth or reality?’ by Xie <em>et al</em> JF - Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases JO - Ann Rheum Dis DO - 10.1136/annrheumdis-2020-217633 SP - annrheumdis-2020-217633 AU - Carmen Magdalena Gamboa-Alonso AU - Gabriel Figueroa-Parra AU - Dionicio Angel Galarza-Delgado Y1 - 2020/06/22 UR - http://ard.bmj.com/content/early/2020/06/22/annrheumdis-2020-217633.abstract N2 - We thank Xie et al 1 for the interest in our letter2 and found some relevant points to discuss the role of antimalarial drugs during the COVID-19 pandemic. The information has increased at an incredible rate since our letter was published. Despite initial encouraging in vitro and preclinical studies, current evidence supporting the role of antimalarial drugs for prophylaxis or treatment of COVID-19 has been predominantly contradictory or negative.3 COVID-19 was classified as a pandemic on 11 March 2020 by WHO.4 To this date (7 June 2020), 6 799 713 cases have been confirmed worldwide, with 397 388 deaths.5 The severity and mortality of this virus have motivated researchers to find an effective treatment. Many prophylaxis (pre-exposure and postexposure) trials are currently running. Boulware et al conducted a randomised, double-blind trial in the USA and Canada that tested postexposure prophylaxis with hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) or placebo. They included 821 asymptomatic … ER -