When Edson José da Rocha, 51, was diagnosed with Covid-19, he received a prescription for the so-called early treatment, which included drugs such as azithromycin and ivermectin. When he was admitted to the hospital with the disease, he took chloroquine and soon after, started to feel a strange sensation in his chest.
His condition worsened and less than a month after entering the hospital, he died.
Medicines from the Covid-19 early treatment kit promoted by the Ministry of Health and President Jair Bolsonaro can cause cardiac arrhythmia, bleeding and inflammation in the liver, according to experts.
After a year of pandemic and dozens of studies, chloroquine, hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin have shown no beneficial effect in treating the disease and there is no convincing study on the antiviral efficacy of ivermectin.
In a letter, the Brazilian Society of Infectious Diseases (SBI) and the Brazilian Medical Association (AMB) state that the best scientific evidence demonstrates that no medication is effective in preventing or treating Covid, thus far.
Translated by Kiratiana Freelon