Oxford scientists to study ivermectin's efficacy for Covid-19 treatment

A team of scientists at the University of Oxford have on Wednesday announced a trial to investigate the efficacy and safety of ivermectin an antiparasitic drug for people at more risk of serious illness from Covid19Previous studies of ivermectin which show that early administration with ivermectin can reduce viral load and the duration of symptoms in some patients with mild Covid19 have generally been small or low qualityThe World Health Organisation in March and the US Food and Drug Administration FDA had in April last year recommended against the use of ivermectin in treating Covid19 patients The WHO said there was a very low certainty of evidence on ivermectins effects on mortality hospital admission and getting rid of the virus from the bodySafety and efficacy are important when using any drug for a new indication WHO recommends against the use of ivermectin for COVID19 except within clinical trials Soumya Swaminathan the global health bodys chief scientist said in a tweetHowever ivermectin has been taken up by doctors and by individuals selfmedicating in countries including Brazil Bolivia Peru and South AfricaIvermectin is readily available globally has been in wide use for many other infectious conditions so its a wellknown medicine with a good safety profile and because of the early promising results in some studies it is already being widely used to treat Covid19 in several countries said Professor Chris Butler from the University Oxfords Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences said in a statementBy including ivermectin in a largescale trial we hope to generate robust evidence to determine how effective the treatment is against Covid19 and whether there are benefits or harms associated with its use he addedThe trial has so far recruited more than 5000 volunteers from across the UK who will be randomly assigned to receive a threeday course of ivermectin treatment They will be followedup for 28 days and will be compared with participants who have been assigned to receive the usual standard of National Health Service care onlyPeople aged 18 to 64 with certain underlying health conditions or shortness of breath from Covid19 or aged over 65 are eligible to join the trial within the first 14 days of experiencing Covid19 symptoms or receiving a positive testPeople with severe liver disease who are on the bloodthinning medication warfarin or taking other treatments known to interact with ivermectin will be excludedThe trial can be joined easily from anywhere in the UK either online over the telephone or via a GP practice and without the need for facetoface visits with the trial team in OxfordThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever