A Pilot, Randomised, Placebo-Controlled, Double-Blind Trial of a Single Oral Dose of Ivermectin for Post-Exposure Prophylaxis of SARS-CoV-2
https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4923/17/9/1205
People who took one small oral dose of ivermectin after exposure,
took longer to test positive and had more time alive and free of symptoms.
Multiple reports from in vitro infectious models document Ivermectin’s antiviral properties
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7564151/pdf/cells-09-02100.pdf
Ivermectin has broad-spectrum antiviral activity.
Randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled
Single oral dose of Ivermectin as prophylaxis for SARS-CoV-2
Trial to evaluate the effectiveness of a single oral low dose of Ivermectin
Ability to prevent SARS-CoV-2 infection?
Ability to reduce symptoms if infection did occur?
Asymptomatic community-dwelling adults
Enrolled within 72 h of close contact with a case of SARS-CoV-2.
Single oral 200 µg/kg dose of Ivermectin or placebo.
Conversion to a positive PCR or RAT test within 14 days of close contact.
(for those who tested positive)
Days alive free of symptoms in the 14 and 28 days following ivermectin
Days from close contact until a positive PCR or RAT
N = 536 (86 met inclusion criteria and were randomised)
68 adhered and were included in the analysis.
So, ivermectin did not prevent people testing positive
Days from close contact until a positive PCR or RAT
Increased by 2.3 days in ivermectin group.
So, ivermectin lengthened the incubation period
Viral load needed to precipitate clinical disease took longer to develop – indicating an antiviral effect.
Infection may have been prevented from primary contact, - indicating an antiviral effect.
Days alive free of symptoms
Increased by 2.5 days in ivermectin group.
So ivermectin delayed onset of symptoms in people who tested positive
(Longer asymptomatic period)
Age, prior SARS-CoV-2 infection, body mass index, hypertension, lung disease
We did not demonstrate that a single oral low dose of Ivermectin administered to asymptomatic adults within 72 h of close contact with a case of
SARS-CoV-2 prevents conversion to a positive PCR or RAT.
(may have done with a larger sample size)
Amongst those who did convert to a positive PCR or RAT
Ivermectin significantly lengthened the time from close contact to conversion
Ivermectin increased the number of days alive free of symptoms
Initiation of this trial in late 2021
Massively used around the world
Very low incidence of serious adverse side effects
No instance of resistance reported in over 25 years.
Ivermectin can bind to and inhibit the nuclear transport roles of the host importin α (IMPα) protein,
which is known to mediate the nuclear import of various viral proteins and key host factors.
Other quite distinct antiviral actions of Ivermectin have been proposed
High (therapeutic) concentrations collect in the lungs, stable for more than 30 days in cattle
Trial was based on the strong clinical retrospective association of statistically significantly lower mortality in patients who received oral Ivermectin (200 μg/kg) compared with usual care
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0012369220348984
Ivermectin patients 15% mortality
Controls, 25.2% mortality
In subjects with severe pulmonary disease
Ivermectin patients, mortality 38.8%
Controls, 80.7% mortality
