Ivermectin: A Closer Look at a Potential Remedy
Karim O Elkholy, Omar Hegazy, Burak Erdinc, Hesham Abowali
Cureus, doi:10.7759/cureus.10378
Amid the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic, the search for effective treatment and vaccines has been exponentially on the rise. Finding effective treatment has been the core of attention of many scientific reports and antivirals are in the center of those treatments. Numerous antivirals are being studied for the management of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pneumonia caused by the SARS-CoV-2. Remdesivir was the first drug to gain emergency FDA approval to be used in COVID-19. Similarly, favipiravir, an anti-influenza drug, is being studied as a potential agent against COVID-19. Contrastingly, hydroxychloroquine has been a controversial drug in the management of COVID-19. Nevertheless, the National Institute of Health (NIH), along with the World Health Organization (WHO), have discontinued clinical trials for hydroxychloroquine as the drug showed little or no survival benefit. Ivermectin, an antihelminthic drug, has shown antiviral properties previously. Additionally, it was described to be effective in vivo against the SARS-CoV-2. However, its survival benefit in patients with COVID-19 has not been documented. We herein propose the theory of inhaled ivermectin which can attain the desired lung concentration that will render it effective against SARS-CoV-2.
Additional Information Disclosures
Conflicts of interest: In compliance with the ICMJE uniform disclosure form, all authors declare the following: Payment/services info: All authors have declared that no financial support was received from any organization for the submitted work. Financial relationships: All authors have declared that they have no financial relationships at present or within the previous three years with any organizations that might have an interest in the submitted work. Other relationships: All authors have declared that there are no other relationships or activities that could appear to have influenced the submitted work.
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