A five day course of ivermectin for the treatment of COVID-19 may reduce the duration of illness

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijid.2020.11.191

To determine the rapidity of viral clearance and safety of ivermectin among adult SARS-CoV-2 patients a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of oral ivermectin alone (12 mg once daily for 5 days) or in combination with doxycycline (12 mg ivermectin single dose and 200 mg stat doxycycline day-1 followed by 100 mg 12hrly for next 4 days) compared with placebo among 72 hospitalized patients in Dhaka, Bangladesh were conducted. Clinical symptoms of fever, cough and sore throat were comparable among the three treatment arms. Virological clearance was earlier in the 5-day ivermectin treatment arm versus the placebo group (9.7 days vs. 12.7 days; P = 0.02); but not with the ivermectin + doxycycline arm (11.5 days; P = 0.27). There were no severe adverse drug events recorded in the study. A 5-day course of ivermectin was found to be safe and effective in treating mild COVID-19 adult patients. Larger trials will be needed to confirm these preliminary findings.

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