According to a study published in
JAMA today, researchers from the Centro de Estudios en Infectologia Pediatrica in Cali, Colombia looked at the effect of Ivermectin on time to resolution of symptoms among adults with mild COVID-19.
Abstract
Image/CDC
Importance Ivermectin is widely prescribed as a potential treatment for COVID-19 despite uncertainty about its clinical benefit.
Objective To determine whether ivermectin is an efficacious treatment for mild COVID-19.
Design, Setting, and Participants Double-blind, randomized trial conducted at a single site in Cali, Colombia. Potential study participants were identified by simple random sampling from the state’s health department electronic database of patients with symptomatic, laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 during the study period. A total of 476 adult patients with mild disease and symptoms for 7 days or fewer (at home or hospitalized) were enrolled between July 15 and November 30, 2020, and followed up through Dec
email article
COVID-19 patients treated in a randomized trial with the anti-parasitic drug ivermectin did no better than a placebo group, Colombian researchers said.
Median time to recovery among mild COVID-19 patients in the ivermectin group was 10 days versus 12 days among those receiving placebo, and rates of symptom resolution at day 21 were about equal, reported Eduardo López-Medina, MD, of Centro de Estudios en Infectología Pediátrica, and colleagues, writing in
But the trial was far from perfect. The initial primary outcome was time from randomization until worsening of symptoms by two points on an ordinal scale, but few patients reached this endpoint in the expected time, meaning the sample size needed to maintain sufficient power was unattainable. Therefore, the primary endpoint was changed to time from randomization to symptom resolution by day 21, and the original sample size was retained.
This randomized clinical trials reports that among adults with mild COVID-19, a five-day course of ivermectin, compared with placebo, didn t significantly improve the time to resolution of symptoms. The findings don t support the use of ivermectin for treatment of mild COVID-19, although larger trials may be needed to understand the effects of ivermectin on other clinically relevant outcomes.
What’s new? Coca crops have set record yields in Colombia since the 2016 peace accord with FARC guerrillas, persuading the government to expand its forced eradication campaign with the backing of U.S. authorities. Bogotá claims that eliminating the plant will reduce rural violence.
Why does it matter? Insecurity in Colombia’s countryside has steadily got worse in recent years as armed groups vie with one another and the military for supremacy. Enhanced eradication, and potentially aerial fumigation, could intensify violence by forcing farmers into the clutches of armed outfits, while failing to stop the replanting of coca.
What should be done? Colombia and the U.S., the lead outside backer of tough counter-narcotic policies in Latin America, should turn the page on using force against coca farmers in a bid to dent global cocaine supply. Boosting rural economies, forging ahead with crop substitution and avoiding clashes with cultivators would make for better policy.