Abstract
The proliferation of falsified medicines can cause serious public health issues, particularly in the context of a global pandemic such as the actual COVID-19 pandemic. Our study involved eight chloroquine phosphate medicines seized in Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo and Niger during March and May 2020. These suspect samples were first analyzed in a screening phase using field tools such as handheld Raman spectroscopy (TruScan) and then in a confirmation phase using laboratory tools such as hyperspectral Raman imaging and High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC). The results confirmed the falsified nature of the samples, highlighting the presence of metronidazole at low dose in four samples (16.6, 15.2, 15.2 and 14.5 mg/tab), too low levels of chloroquine in two samples (2.4 and 20.2 mg/tab), and substitution of chloroquine phosphate by paracetamol in one sample (255.7 mg/tab). The results also confirmed that four samples had been adulterated with paracetamol in trace amounts and two of them presented traces of chloramphenicol.
Keywords: COVID-19; Chloroquine phosphate; Chromatography; Substandard/falsified medicines; Vibrational spectroscopy.
【저자키워드】 COVID-19, Chloroquine phosphate, Chromatography, Substandard/falsified medicines, Vibrational spectroscopy., 【초록키워드】 public health, Chloroquine, COVID-19 pandemic, Niger, Chloroquine phosphate, Chromatography, Laboratory, global pandemic, Medicine, Liquid chromatography, low dose, Raman spectroscopy, HPLC, performance, proliferation, phosphate, Democratic Republic, trace amounts, metronidazole, chloramphenicol, Paracetamol, Substitution, liquid, analyzed, involved, eight, highlighting, 【제목키워드】 COVID-19 pandemic, Chloroquine phosphate, Analysis,