New Delhi: Regular use of the oral antiparasitic drug ivermectin may significantly reduce the risk of contracting COVID-19, according to a review of available data by researchers who claim the medicine can help end the pandemic.
The research, published in the May-June issue of the American Journal of Therapeutics, is the most comprehensive review of the available data on ivermectin taken from clinical, in vitro, animal, and real-world studies, its authors said.
"We conducted the most comprehensive review of the available data on ivermectin," said Pierre Kory, president and chief medical officer of the Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance (FLCCC), a group of medical and scientific experts, which led the study.
"We applied the gold standard to qualify the data reviewed before concluding that ivermectin can end this pandemic," Kory said in a statement.
Ivermectin is an oral drug is used as a prescription medication to treat parasitic infections.
A focus of the study was on the 27 controlled trials available in January 2021, 15 of which were randomised controlled trials (RCT's).
The authors found large, statistically significant reduction in mortality, time to recovery and viral clearance in COVID-19 patients treated with ivermectin.
To evaluate the efficacy of ivermectin in preventing COVID-19, three RCT's and five observational controlled trials including almost 2,500 patients were analysed.
All studies reported that ivermectin significantly reduces the risk of contracting COVID-19 when used regularly, the authors said.
Many regions around the world now recognise that ivermectin is a powerful prophylaxis and treatment for COVID-19, the researchers said.
The results as seen in this latest study demonstrate that the ivermectin distribution campaigns repeatedly led to "rapid population-wide decreases in morbidity and mortality," they said.
"Our latest research shows, once again, that when the totality of the evidence is examined, there is no doubt that ivermectin is highly effective as a safe prophylaxis and treatment for COVID-19," said Paul E. Marik, founding member of the FLCCC and Chief, Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at Eastern Virginia Medical School in the US.
"We are calling on regional public health authorities and medical professionals around the world to demand that ivermectin be included in their standard of care right away so we can end this pandemic once and for all," Marik added.