Efficacy of Ivermectin in COVID-19 Patients with Mild to Moderate Disease
Karamat Hussain Shah Bukhari, Dr Asma Asghar, Najma Perveen, Dr Arshad Hayat, Dr Sermad Ahmad Mangat, Kamil Rehman Butt, Dr Mohammad Abdullah, Tehreem Fatima, Ahmad Mustafa, Talal Iqbal
doi:10.1101/2021.02.02.21250840
Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of ivermectin (IVM) as an addition to the standard of care (SOC) treatment in COVID-19 patients with mild and moderate disease Materials and Methods: A randomized clinical trial (Trial registration # NCT04392713) was carried out at Combined Military Hospital Lahore from March 15, 2020, to June 15, 2020. Eighty-six patients with reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) proven SARS-CoV-2 infection completed the trial protocol. Patients were stratified via the lottery method into two groups. Group A was administered standard of care (SOC) treatment as per existing hospital guidelines whereas group B was given ivermectin (single dose of 12 milligrams) along with SOC treatment. PCR was repeated at 72 hours, 7 th day, and at 14 th day of admission for both the groups and the point at which the PCR became negative was noted. Complete blood counts, liver function tests and renal function tests were done at recruitment, 7 th day, and 14 th day. The primary outcome was the viral clearance, measured as days to achieve PCR negativity. The secondary outcome was the development of any adverse side effects pertinent to ivermectin or derangement in baseline laboratory parameters. Results: In group A, 36 (80%) participants were males, and 9 (20%) were females, whereas in group B, 37 (90.2%) were males and 4 (9.8%) were females. Mean age was 39.0 ± 12.6 and 42.2 ± 12.0 years for groups A and B, respectively (p= 0.394). There was early viral clearance in group B as compared to group A (p=0.001). No adverse reaction or derangements in laboratory parameters was noted in the intervention arm during the trial period.
Declarations Ethical approval and consent to participate -the approval was sought from Combined Military Hospital Lahore Ethics Review Board (ERC # 169/2020) and the trial was registered before initiation (Trial registration # NCT04392713).
Consent for publication -not applicable Competing interests -The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
Funding -not applicable
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'abstract': '<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:sec><jats:title>Objective</jats:title><jats:p>To '
'evaluate the efficacy of ivermectin (IVM) as an addition to the standard of care (SOC) '
'treatment in COVID-19 patients with mild and moderate '
'disease</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Materials and Methods</jats:title><jats:p>A '
'randomized clinical trial (Trial registration # <jats:ext-link '
'xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" ext-link-type="clintrialgov" '
'xlink:href="NCT04392713">NCT04392713</jats:ext-link>) was carried out at Combined Military '
'Hospital Lahore from March 15, 2020, to June 15, 2020. Eighty-six patients with reverse '
'transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) proven SARS-CoV-2 infection completed the '
'trial protocol. Patients were stratified via the lottery method into two groups. Group A was '
'administered standard of care (SOC) treatment as per existing hospital guidelines whereas '
'group B was given ivermectin (single dose of 12 milligrams) along with SOC treatment. PCR was '
'repeated at 72 hours, 7<jats:sup>th</jats:sup> day, and at 14<jats:sup>th</jats:sup> day of '
'admission for both the groups and the point at which the PCR became negative was noted. '
'Complete blood counts, liver function tests and renal function tests were done at '
'recruitment, 7<jats:sup>th</jats:sup> day, and 14<jats:sup>th</jats:sup> day. The primary '
'outcome was the viral clearance, measured as days to achieve PCR negativity. The secondary '
'outcome was the development of any adverse side effects pertinent to ivermectin or '
'derangement in baseline laboratory '
'parameters.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results</jats:title><jats:p>In group A, '
'36 (80%) participants were males, and 9 (20%) were females, whereas in group B, 37 (90.2%) '
'were males and 4 (9.8%) were females. Mean age was 39.0± 12.6 and 42.2 ± 12.0 years for '
'groups A and B, respectively (p= 0.394). There was early viral clearance in group B as '
'compared to group A (p=0.001). No adverse reaction or derangements in laboratory parameters '
'was noted in the intervention arm during the trial '
'period.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusion</jats:title><jats:p>In the '
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