Geneva:
The World Health Organization stated Wednesday that ivermectin — touted by some on social media as a Covid-19 “miracle cure” — ought to not be used to treat coronavirus patients.
In response to the swirl of claims about the low-priced anti-parasite drug, the WHO issued suggestions saying ivermectin ought to only be employed on Covid-19 patients in clinical trial settings.
The UN well being agency stated there was a “very low certainty of evidence” on ivermectin’s effects on mortality, hospital admission and having rid of the virus from the body.
Facebook posts and articles endorsing ivermectin have proliferated in Brazil, France, South Africa and South Korea as governments about the globe struggle with vaccination programmes.
The pandemic has prompted a surge in demand for the drug, specifically in Latin America.
But in an update to its suggestions on Covid-19 therapeutics, the WHO stated: “We recommend not to use ivermectin in patients with Covid-19 except in the context of a clinical trial.
“This recommendation applies to patients with any illness severity and any duration of symptoms.”
– ‘Ongoing concerns’ –
The WHO looked at studies that compared ivermectin against a placebo and against other drugs, in 16 randomised control trials examining 2,400 patients.
“We at present lack persuasive proof of a mechanism of action for ivermectin in Covid-19, and any observed clinical advantage would be unexplained,” it said.
The drug has long been used to treat parasites such as head lice and for river blindness in sub-Saharan Africa.
The WHO recommendation was triggered by “improved international interest” on ivermectin as a potential treatment for Covid-19.
But the guidance said: “The effects of ivermectin on mortality, mechanical ventilation, hospital admission, duration of hospitalisation and viral clearance stay uncertain for the reason that of really low certainty of proof addressing each and every of these outcomes.”
WHO experts stressed that the guidelines were not rigid and could be updated over time if further evidence comes to light.
But for now, “the low expense and wide availability do not, in the panel’s view, mandate the use of a drug in which any advantage remains really uncertain and ongoing issues relating to harms stay”.
– WHO fighting ‘unproven therapies’ –
Ivermectin is one of a string of medications tested as a potential Covid-19 treatment since the pandemic began.
Like anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine — so far unproven by clinical trials — ivermectin is widely available and relatively cheap.
The recommendation is likely to provoke fury and scepticism among the drug’s social media champions.
Often the rhetoric doing the rounds on social media for ivermectin is the same as for hydroxychloroquine: that the authorities are deliberately ignoring it because it is not profitable for the pharmaceutical industry.
However, its claimed benefits in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic has not been proven in major clinical trials.
The WHO’s clinical management leader Janet Diaz told reporters: “We’ve been fighting this more than-use of unproven therapies, in particular some of the repurposed drugs in several components of the globe devoid of proof of efficacy.
“So it is always concerning because there can be more harm than any good.”
Furthermore, “It can take resources away from conditions that should be treated with these drugs.”
– Diversion –
Proponents of ivermectin, like these of hydroxychloroquine, normally argue that it is currently extensively employed — even for completely various purposes — thus its use for Covid-19 is nothing at all to be concerned about.
However, Bram Rochwerg, solutions chair of the Guideline Development Group (GDG) behind the WHO recommendation, told reporters that though ivermectin was a “relatively safe drug”, the dosing regimes employed for other illnesses have been not comparable.
“The other potential for harm… was a diversion of attention and resources from supportive care that we know works for Covid patients,” he added.
Without proof of efficacy, the GDG felt “these other factors outweighed any potential for uncertain benefit”.
Last week, the EU’s medicines regulator likewise advised against utilizing ivermectin for coronavirus outdoors clinical trials.
The US Food and Drug Administration’s Covid-19 regularly asked queries web page says bluntly “No.” in response to “Should I take ivermectin to prevent or treat Covid-19?”.
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