PRIANGAN ZONE – A study published Friday by JAMA Internal Medicine found that treatment with the anthelmintic ivermectin failed to prevent patients with mild to moderate COVID-19 from progressing to serious illness.
The data showed that of the 241 patients in the study with mild to moderate symptoms who were treated with veterinary drugs, 52, or 22%, developed severe COVID-19.
Meanwhile, 43 of the 249 patients, or 17 percent, who received “standard” treatment, including corticosteroids and, in some cases, other experimental drugs, developed serious viral illness, the researchers said.
“Basically, the findings of our study have rejected the idea of ivermectin as a ‘wonder drug’ against COVID-19,” study co-author Dr. Steven Chee Loon Lim told UPI via email.
“People infected with COVID-19 should not self-medicate with ivermectin, which does not reduce the risk of worsening serious illness,” said Lim, an infectious disease doctor at Raja Permaisuri Bainun Hospital in Perak, Malaysia.
In addition, study participants treated with ivermectin reported more side effects than those given other drugs, Lim said.
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This “raises concerns about the widespread use of this drug,” he said.
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