Ivermectin Doesn’t Work Against Covid-19 (Updated Evidence)

In today’s Medium article, I’ll be addressing a dug-up old claim that Ivermectin supposedly works against Covid-19. A major proponent of this old claim is none other than Dr McCollough, who you might be aware of, after other claims this dubious pathologist has made, so without further a do let’s get into the article.

➡️ Updated Evidence — IVM Doesn’t Work

(for all citations, please see the number which would be indicated in a closed bracket and then see the references section)

To start off the evidence from the scientific literature is an opinion letter [1] titled: ”Evidence on the efficacy of ivermectin for COVID-19: another story of apples and oranges”. Which looks at the reliability of studies perpetuating the hypothesis that IVM work against Covid.

I’ve reported on this before but the Indian Council of Medical Research fully removed support of IVM & hydroxychloroquine in Sept 2021 [2], as there was a lack of adequate evidence to support continued usage of both products.

References: [1] https://ebm.bmj.com/content/27/3/187.full
[2] https://science.thewire.in/health/icmr-revises-covid-treatment-guidelines-removes-ivermectin-hydroxychloroquine/

➡️ RCT & Meta-analysis studies

• RCT’s

An RCT that looked into providing a high dose of IVM for early treatment of COVID-19 [1] did not find any decrease or any efficacy in viral load.

An RCT study published in BMC Infectious Disease science journal titled [2] “Ivermectin to prevent hospitalizations in patients with COVID-19 (IVERCOR-COVID19) a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial”, concluded that “Ivermectin had no significant effect on preventing hospitalization of patients with COVID-19. Patients who received ivermectin required invasive MVS earlier in their treatment. No significant differences were observed in any of the other secondary outcomes.”

An RCT study published in the JAMA science journal [4] mentioned the following: “In this randomized clinical trial of high-risk patients with mild to moderate COVID-19, ivermectin treatment during early illness did not prevent progression to severe disease. The study findings do not support the use of ivermectin for patients with COVID-19”

NEJM had an RCT published on May 5, 2022 [5]. Data from 3515 patients who were randomly assigned to receive ivermectin (679 patients), placebo (679), or another intervention (2157). Following this data, the conclusion of this study stated: “Treatment with ivermectin did not result in a lower incidence of medical admission to a hospital due to progression of Covid-19 or of prolonged emergency department observation among outpatients with an early diagnosis of Covid-19.”

A recent RCT study published in the JAMA [7] science journal dated October 21, 2022, took data from 1591 adult outpatients with COVID-19, who took a dosage treatment of ivermectin, 400 μg/kg, daily for 3 days. The findings within the conclusion were as follows: “Among outpatients with mild to moderate COVID-19, treatment with ivermectin, compared with placebo, did not significantly improve time to recovery. These findings do not support the use of ivermectin in patients with mild to moderate COVID-19.”

An RCT study [8] that looked at ivermectin in the treatment of mild to moderate COVID-19 infection, found that “No difference was found in the proportion of PCR-positive cases after treatment with ivermectin compared with standard care among patients with mild to moderate COVID-19 symptoms. However, early symptomatic recovery was observed without side effects.”

An RCT study published in Frontiers [10] conducted a study where some participants had a placebo and some participants had Ivermectin, the study found in it’s conclusion: “Our data showed, ivermectin, compared with placebo, did not have a significant potential effect on clinical improvement, reduced admission in ICU, need for invasive ventilation, and death in hospitalized patients; likewise, no evidence was found to support the prescription of ivermectin on recovery, reduced hospitalization and increased negative RT-PCR assay for SARS-CoV-2 5 days after treatment in outpatients. Our findings do not support the use of ivermectin to treat mild to severe forms of COVID-19.”

• Meta-analysis

An updated version of Roman et al. [3] found that “Compared with the standard of care or placebo, IVM did not reduce all-cause mortality, LOS, or viral clearance in RCTs in patients with mostly mild COVID-19. IVM did not have an effect on AEs or SAEs and is not a viable option to treat patients with COVID-19.”

A meta-analysis study posted in the BMC Infectious Diseases [6] science journal which was looking at ivermectin for the treatment of COVID-19 found that: “The evidence suggests that ivermectin does not reduce mortality risk and the risk of mechanical ventilation requirement.”

Over 30 studies were included in another meta-analysis study [9] posted in BMC Virology Journal, the conclusion was as follows: “Ivermectin did not have any significant effect on outcomes of COVID-19 patients and as WHO recommends, use of ivermectin should be limited to clinical trials.”

References: [1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8734085/
[2] https://bmcinfectdis.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12879-021-06348-5
[3] https://academic.oup.com/cid/article/74/6/1022/6310839
[4] https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/2789362
[5] https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2115869
[6] https://bmcinfectdis.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12879-022-07589-8
[7] https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2797483
[8] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36028897/
[9] https://virologyj.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12985-022-01829-8
[10] https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmed.2022.919708/full

➡️ Conclusion
There is more than enough evidence here to effectively state ivermectin shouldn’t be used against Covid-19 and has no effect on Covid-19 patients when used.

💥 Thanks for reading, Lawrence. Please consider a small contribution, in the form of a beer as all articles are created in my small amount of spare time: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/LawrenceRob