Ivermectin, an antiparasitic drug commonly used to control equine and bovine worms, does not reduce the risk of being hospitalized with COVID-19, despite its questionable evolution as an alternative treatment for the disease. Great New Research Published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
The clinical trial, which began in 2020, examined more than 1,300 patients in Brazil infected with the coronavirus. In a randomized double-blind study, half were given ivermectin and half a placebo, i.e., doctors or study participants did not know what the patient was receiving.
The findings confirm what U.S. health officials have long taught: ivermectin has done nothing to help patients with the virus or reduce the risk of staying in the hospital.
“Treatment with ivermectin did not result in increased incidence of hospitalization due to the development of COVID-19 or prolonged emergency room follow-up in outpatients with early detection of COVID-19,” it wrote. of researchers on Wednesday.
The data was shared at a presentation at the National Institutes of Health in August, but Wednesday’s publication was the first time the findings were fully shared.
In the study, the researchers initially gave patients a daily dose of ivermectin, which is commonly used to treat parasitic diseases, but also adapted the diagnosis to give some patients the medication in the first three. days after examination. Positive to COVID-19. They found that this group performed worse than those taking placebo.
Clinical studies have already shown that ivermectin is ineffective against COVID-19 and have been released by the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Repeated warnings Americans do not self-medicate. But it is still used as an alternative treatment, even for inmates as Spotify podcaster Joe Rogan says and in Arkansas.
The drug was among the thousands first seen in the early days of the pandemic; The New York Times mentioned this when there were researchers Whether it resists treatment For other diseases it could possibly use to fight COVID-19. Preliminary experiments at the time suggested that ivermectin could block the coronavirus, and some doctors began prescribing it despite FDA warnings. Some people began to turn Agricultural stores Buy doses of drugs used for cattle, Overdose of drugs Designed for larger creatures. It also caused a shortage of drugs.
Research into the possible benefits of older drugs has declined as safe and effective vaccines have become widely available in the United States and new antiviral treatments have emerged on the scene.
Dr Lindsay Baden, deputy editor of the New England Journal of Medicine, said Wednesday in a podcast that the spread of misinformation about ivermectin has hampered the public’s response to treatment, which has been shown to actively protect or cure COVID-19. .
“If there’s active treatment, it’s better to use agents than the agents we want to work with but we don’t have evidence that they work,” Baden said. “So the real danger I see in re -prescribing drugs that don’t work is they confuse our patients with early clinical treatment.”
Source: Huffpost
