| "We included patients hospitalised between Dec 20, 2019, and April 14, 2020, with a positive laboratory finding for SARS-CoV-2" It may be the end of the road for hospitalized patients with heavy viral loads but, considering the fact that zinc is mentioned nowhere in the full text, it is not the end of the road for prophylaxis. Early action before hospitalization is necessary... see below. https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6... Zinc does the hard work of inhibiting viral replication; HCQ is the zinc ionophore that lights the pathway. "First used in 1967, the term ionophore refers to the molecule’s ability to bind a metal ion and facilitate its transport across cellular membranes." In order to inhibit viral replication, zinc must enter the cell... HCQ and other zinc ionophores can facilitate this. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4896753/ Pasting my previous comment below with slight modifications: Hydroxychloroquine is just one of several zinc ionophores that inhibit viral replication. "Zinc Ionophores Pyrithione Inhibits Herpes Simplex Virus Replication"
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23867132/ "... the virus replicative cycle can be divided into 10 steps (Fig. 52-1): (1) adsorption, (2) penetration, (3) uncoating, (4) early transcription, (5) early translation, (6) replication of the viral genome, (7) late transcription, (8) late translation, (9) assembly, and (10) release of new virus particles." If using HCQ as a zinc ionophore which targets replication, "antiviral drug treatment should be started early, before irreversible tissue damage occurs. Such timely treatment is not possible without early and accurate diagnosis, which is difficult for many viral infections (such as infections of the respiratory tract)"
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK8119/ |