Role of ivermectin in the prevention of COVID-19 infection among healthcare workers in India: A matched case-control study

https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.10.29.20222661v1

A hospital-based matched case-control study was conducted among healthcare workers of AIIMS Bhubaneswar, India, from September to October 2020. Ivermectin prophylaxis was taken by 77 controls and 38 cases. Two-dose ivermectin prophylaxis (0.27, 95% CI, 0.15-0.51) was associated with 73% reduction of COVID-19 infection among healthcare workers for the following one month, those who were involved in physical activity (3.06 95% CI, 1.18-7.93) for more than an hour/day were more likely to contract COVID-19 infection. Type of household, COVID duty, single-dose ivermectin prophylaxis, vitamin-C prophylaxis and hydroxychloroquine prophylaxis were not associated with COVID-19 infection.  Two-dose ivermectin prophylaxis at a dose of 300 μg/kg with a gap of 72 hours was associated 73% reduction of COVID-19 infection among healthcare workers for the following one-month.