CORONAVIRUS:

Two NIGERIANS Suffering Drug Overdose after Self-Medicating with Chloroquine… demand for the drug surged in Lagos moment Trump Praised Anti-Malaria Drug as Possible COVID-19 Treatment

* Some Nigerians begin stockpiling hydroxychloroquine for family members and friends

* “Two people were hospitalized in Lagos for chloroquine overdoses”-Oreoluwa Finnih, senior health assistant to the governor of Lagos

* Gboyega Akosile, chief press secretary to Lagos State Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu tweet: “Oreoluwa Finnih, the governor’s senior special assistant on health,, had warned against “massive consumption” of the drug”

* BY TITILAYO OBADINA/HEALTH REPORTER, LAGOS

TWO Nigerians resident in Lagos state are facing drug poisoning after they practiced self-medication and engaged in overdose use of chloroquine, an anti-Malaria medical therapeutic drug to guard against the threat of the dreaded Coronavirus infection. In their last statement before been rushed to the hospital, the two agreed that based on United States President, Donald Trump assurance of the likely efficacy of Chloroquine tablets to cure Covid-19, they had self-medicated to remain healthy.

Nigeria reported two cases of chloroquine poisoning after U.S. President Donald Trump praised the anti-malaria drug as a treatment for the novel coronavirus. Health officials are warning Nigerians against self-medicating after demand for the drug surged in Lagos, a city that’s home to 20 million people. “Two people were hospitalized in Lagos for chloroquine overdoses. Please don’t panic. Chloroquine is still in a testing phase in combination with other medication and not yet verified as a preventive treatment or curative option,” Oreoluwa Finnih, senior health assistant to the governor of Lagos, reportedly said.

Nigeria’s Centre for Disease Control warned that the World Health Organization hasn’t approved use of the drug against the virus. Africa’s most populous country reported 22 infections as of Saturday.

Trump said Thursday that chloroquine and its less-toxic cousin hydroxychloroquine had shown “tremendous promise” to treat the new illness. The president doubled down on Saturday, telling his Twitter followers that hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin “taken together” could be “one of the biggest game changers in the history of medicine.” He urged they “be put in use IMMEDIATELY.”

Trump also retweeted an online post about a small study of 26 patients that showed success in eradicating the new coronavirus when the two drugs were taken together. Some hospitals have already begun stockpiling hydroxychloroquine, and medical institutions are gearing up to conduct further studies. In the meantime, experts say using the drug and its cousin chloroquine to treat Covid-19 isn’t backed by enough scientific evidence.

In Nigeria, health authorities are warning against self-medicating, after two patients overdosed on the anti-malaria drug chloroquine, which President Trump has praised as a possible treatment for coronavirus. Tests are currently being carried out with anti-malarials in the U.S. and other countries, but the FDA and the WHO have not approved its use as a treatment for COVID-19. Back in the U.S., lupus patients have reported shortages of the drug hydroxychloroquine — which is used to treat both malaria and lupus — following Trump’s recent statements.

Nigerian health officials on Monday issued a warning about chloroquine, an antimalarial drug President Trump has repeatedly touted as a possible coronavirus treatment, saying three people have overdosed on it.

Lagos State Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s press secretary, Gboyega Akosile, tweeted that the governor’s senior special assistant on health, Oreoluwa Finnih, had warned against “massive consumption” of the drug.

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