A simple treatment for COVID-19 can be cheaper than $ 20 – and familiar to most elementary school nurses.
The lice drug, ivermectin, is being explored as a potential treatment for coronavirus, after a promising new study that showed an 80% reduction in deaths of hospitalized patients with COVID-19.
Only 8 of 573 patients who received ivermectin died, compared with 44 of 510 subjects who died after receiving a placebo.
A previous study of the antiparasitic drug, which costs between $ 17 and $ 43 for a course of treatment, according to GoodRx, showed promising results in April – removing all viral RNA in 48 hours with a single dose.
Liverpool University virologist Andrew Hill called the new study “transformational” in the pursuit of coronavirus therapy. His findings, based on data from more than 1,400 patients, were made public in a video posted on YouTube in which Hill discusses his results in a previous live broadcast. The research currently awaits peer review before publishing.
“If we see these same trends seen consistently in more studies, then this is really going to be a transformational treatment,” said Hill.
However, critics deemed the conclusion of Hill’s study premature, calling for more research before declaring ivermectin an effective treatment – citing other methods used and which ended up failing, such as hydroxychloroquine and tocilizumab.
“All we have are observational studies and opinions of doctors,” said Professor Andrew McLachlan of the University of Sydney, the Daily Mail reported.
“Many of the current studies have a low number of participants, weak study designs and inconsistent (and relatively low) ivermectin dosing regimens, with ivermectin often administered in combination with other drugs.”
