A lot of information, true and false, is circulating about Covid-19. Recently, a drug is talking about him: ivermectin. Inserm provides reliable answers.
A “miracle” treatment
Ivermectin is a medicine used against parasitosis, ailments caused by parasites. Like hydroxychloroquine, ivermectin is arousing interest and enthusiasm, while no evidence of its effectiveness has been demonstrated to date to treat Covid-19. Ivermectin is a treatment to treat scabies and onchocerciasis (river blindness), an eye and skin disease that can blind a person who carries the parasite because it has anti-inflammatory properties. The advantage is that this drug is already authorized, this would have saved time for the marketing of this possible treatment against Covid. However, as Inserm reports on its detox channel, “ the majority of this work has only been published in preprint (i.e. it has not yet appeared in peer-reviewed scientific journals) and / or is limited by methodological bias “.
Insufficient scientific data
A study, which was carried out in vitro on cells, reports antiviral activity of ivermectin against Sars-Cov-2. Although this is an important step, it is not a clinical trial. Indeed, the latter makes it possible to measure the potentially beneficial effects for humans. In addition, the cells which were the object of the study were those of primate mammals. Research concerning this study is therefore not sufficiently advanced to confirm an action of ivermectin on the coronavirus. The press release also mentions other analyzes, which propose to greatly increase, up to 100 times, the authorized doses of the drug in humans.
Studies with limitations
Clinical trials that have been performed in some patients hospitalized with Covid-19 show lower mortality when treated with ivermectin. However, several of them had also received corticosteroids, which have already been proven to be effective for people with severe forms of the disease. Currently, too many uncertainties about ivermectin against Covid-19 remain. ” Ivermectin is an antiparasitic drug that is not currently approved for the treatment of any viral infections, including SARS-CoV-2 infection. », Declare Inserm researcher Manuel Rosa-Calatrava and his collaborators. The drug is therefore not recommended to treat Covid patients at this time.
