Because the early days of the pandemic, there have been talks in regards to the alleged miraculous efficacy of ivermectin against COVID-19. But almost three years into the worldwide health crisis, there’s still no solid evidence to back this up.
Quite the opposite, there’s mounting evidence of the drug’s lack of potency against SARS-CoV-2 or the virus liable for the coronavirus disease.
This week, Medscape published a report on what appeared to be the ultimate verdict on the horse dewormer as a treatment for COVID-19. In line with the medical website, there’s reason to consider that ivermectin is just not an efficient drug against coronavirus infection.
Citing the TOGETHER trial involving data from 1,400 patients from Brazil, Medscape said there was no significant difference in hospitalizations or ER visits between those randomized to ivermectin vs. placebo or one other therapy.
Randomized trials also showed no effect of the drug on COVID-19 patients, crashing everyone’s hope for a more cost-effective medication for the viral infection.
Except for being low-cost, ivermectin is widely available. So when anecdotal reports and early cohort studies suggested that it could provide a cheap means to treat COVID-19, there was a buzz on social media about its promising effects.
There was even a narrative that authorities were suppressing the excellent news in regards to the antiparasitic drug since the execs of massive pharmaceutical products were wanting to earn big from the vaccines.
There was also a little bit of commotion in February when the doctor group called the Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance (FLCCC) included ivermectin in its “i-recover” protocol of medicines, vitamins and therapies for long COVID.
The group said that due to the limited clinical trials of the post-COVID syndrome, it got here up with the “i-recover” recommendations “based on the pathophysiologic mechanisms of COVID-19 and post-viral illnesses” and their “collective experience observing profound and sustained clinical responses.”
It’s value noting that ivermectin was not the one drug really useful by the group as first-line therapy. Prednisone, naltrexone, omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin D were also included within the protocol.
Despite the advice, other studies on ivermectin showed a negative tackle its application in COVID-19 treatment. One in all them was a large study published within the Recent England Journal of Medicine in August that insisted the drug couldn’t treat a SARS-CoV-2 infection.
For the study, the researchers studied ivermectin, metformin and fluvoxamine, and all three failed to indicate efficiency in stopping low oxygen levels, ER visits, hospitalizations and even death on account of COVID-19.