Study Shows Ivermectin Not Recommended for Treatment of COVID-19
A new study released this week in JAMA Internal Medicine finds ivermectin, an antiparasitic drug, has failed to treat individuals with COVID-19.
To conduct the open-label study, researchers enrolled high-risk patients with COVID-19 from 20 public hospitals and COVID-19 quarantine centers in Malaysia between May 31 and October 25, 2021.
The patients were randomized to receive either oral ivermectin for five days plus standard of care, or standard of care without ivermectin for five days, which was administered during the first week of illness. The researchers found the treatment did not reduce the risk of developing severe disease compared with the standard of care.
Among the 490 patients included in the analysis, 21.6% in the ivermectin group and 17.3% in the control group progressed to severe disease and for all secondary outcomes there were no significant differences between the groups.
Despite these findings, which indicate that ivermectin should not be a factor in treatment decisions, researchers say the inexpensive and widely available treatment remains popular because of certain political backing.
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