No Shit: Study Finds Ivermectin Is Not Effective Against COVID, And It Actually Makes Things WORSE
In news that should surprise no one, antiparasitic drug Ivermectin has once again been proven completely ineffective against COVID-19. In fact, the medicine (which, in addition to treating intestinal viruses in humans, is commonly used as a horse dewormer) actually made patients have “notably higher” adverse events while sick with COVID. Fox News pundits, Joe Rogan, and countless other right wing people on the internet (none of whom are doctors) have endorsed Ivermectin in an effort to bolster the anti-vax movement and/or attract attention for themselves, but the facts, as always, are not in their favor. A peer-reviewed study on the failure of Ivermectin was published in JAMA, and here’s the summary via JPost:
Ivermectin is ineffective in preventing severe illness in COVID-19 patients, according to a new peer-reviewed study published in The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) on Friday.
The open-label study examined 490 high-risk patients with COVID-19 at 20 public hospitals and a quarantine center in Malaysia. The patients were 50 years and older with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infections, comorbidities and mild-to-moderate disease. The patients were split into a control group that received standard of care without Ivermectin and a group that received standard of care plus Ivermectin.
Researchers gave trial participants in the Ivermectin group a five-day course of the drug, consisting of 0.4mg/kg body weight each day.
Out of the trial participants, slightly more patients from the Ivermectin group (52) progressed to severe disease than those in the control group (43). Additionally, out of the 55 trial participants who experienced adverse events, 33 were from the Ivermectin group, while 11 were from the control group. Out of events identifies as Serious Adverse Events (SAE), four were from the Ivermectin group while only one was from the control group. Adverse events are events that take place while a person is being treated or taking part in a trial, but are not necessarily caused by the treatment administered.
Two randomized clinical trials from Colombia and Argentina in 2021 and a Cochrane meta-analysis also found no significant effect of Ivermectin in treating and preventing severe illness. A recent meta-analysis of eight randomized clinical trials of Ivermectin to treat COVID-19 also showed that the drug had no significant effect on survival.
The researchers in the trial published on Friday stressed that they found “no evidence” that Ivermectin was effective in reducing the risk of severe illness. They added that the “notably higher” incidence of adverse events in the Ivermectin group “raises concerns about the use of this drug outside of trial settings and without medical supervision.”
[JPost: New study finds Ivermectin ineffective in treating COVID-19]
