[News] Covid: Ivermectin to be studied as possible treatment in UK

[Love Pulse]

University of Oxford scientists are trialling giving Ivermectin to people with Covid symptoms to see if it can keep them out of hospital.

The Principle study will compare those given the drug to patients receiving the usual NHS care.

The drug has become controversial after being promoted for use across Latin America and in South Africa, despite being so far unproven.

Previous studies of Ivermectin have generally been small or low quality.

 

Most commonly used in the treatment of parasitic infections such as river blindness, which is spread by flies, ivermectin has also been shown to kill viruses in petri dishes in the lab — although taken in much higher doses than people are usually prescribed.

Ivermectin is given more often in parts of the world where there are high incidences of parasitic infections, said Dr. Aurora Baluja, an anesthesiologist and critical care physician.

Covid patients who are also battling a parasitic disease at the same time are likely to fare worse and this may explain some of its seemingly positive effect.

Although there were some "promising" early results from small, observational studies, Principal's co-lead researcher Professor Richard Hobbs said it would be "too early" to recommend ivermectin for Covid.

Observational studies look at people who are already taking the drug, rather than giving it to a group that is representative of the po[CENSORED]tion.

So they failed to account for the differences in the types of people who might choose this treatment, and other factors that might have been influencing the spread of the virus at the time.

'Gold standards'

An observational study previously suggested that the antibiotic azithromycin might help Covid patients - but a later principle study showed the drug was ineffective.

Trials like Principle are seen as the "gold standard" because they can be more confident that they measure the effects of a drug rather than the effect of other factors.

Although there is no good evidence yet, ivermectin has been taken by doctors or individuals who treat themselves in countries such as Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, South Africa, and the United States.

In the US, provider SingleCare said 817 prescriptions for ivermectin (which can also be used to treat skin conditions like rosacea) were filled in January and February 2021, compared to 92 in the same period last year.

"Like much hydroxychloroquine before, there has been a significant amount of off-label use of this drug," said Dr Stephen Griffin of the University of Leeds, based on studies of the virus in vitro, not in humans.

"The danger with such off-label use is that ... use of the drug becomes driven by a particular interest group or proponents of unconventional treatments and becomes politicized," he said, adding that this trial should provide a "definitive answer" to whether ivermectin should be used to treat Corona virus or not.

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The Oxford team said they chose ivermectin to be included in the trial because it is "worldwide readily available" and known to be relatively safe (although, like most things, it can be toxic at very high doses).

Of the six other drugs included in the take-home trial for Covid treatments, only one - the inhaled steroid budesonide - has proven effective so far.

Although the sister project is experimenting with the recovery of hospital patients' treatments, they have also discovered another steroid, dexamethasone, that can treat Covid, which is credited with saving more than 20,000 lives in the UK.

People aged 18-64 with an underlying health condition or shortness of breath and anyone 65 or older can sign up for the principle study within 14 days of developing symptoms of COVID or receiving a positive test.