A COVID-19 Prophylaxis? Lower incidence associated with prophylactic administration of Ivermectin
Hellwig et al.,
A COVID-19 Prophylaxis? Lower incidence associated with prophylactic administration of Ivermectin,
International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents, doi:10.1016/j.ijantimicag.2020.106248
Analysis of COVID-19 cases vs. widespread prophylactic use of ivermectin for parasitic infections showing significantly lower incidence of COVID-19 cases.
This study is excluded in the after exclusion results of meta
analysis:
not a typical trial, analysis of African countries that used or did not use ivermectin prophylaxis for parasitic infections.
risk of case, 78.0% lower, RR 0.22, p < 0.02, African countries, PCTI vs. no PCT, relative cases per capita.
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risk of case, 80.0% lower, RR 0.20, p < 0.001, worldwide, PCTI vs. no PCT, relative cases per capita.
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Effect extraction follows pre-specified rules prioritizing more serious outcomes. Submit updates
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Hellwig et al., 28 Nov 2020, retrospective, ecological study, multiple countries, peer-reviewed, 2 authors, dosage 200μg/kg, dose varied, typically 150-200μg/kg.
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International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents 57 (2021) 106248
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ijantimicag
A COVID-19 prophylaxis? Lower incidence associated with
prophylactic administration of ivermectin
Martin D. Hellwig a,∗, Anabela Maia b
a
b
Plymouth State University, 17 High Street, Plymouth, NH, USA
Rhode Island College, 600 Mount Pleasant Avenue, Providence, RI, USA
a r t i c l e
i n f o
Article history:
Received 20 June 2020
Accepted 22 November 2020
Keywords:
SARS-CoV-2
COVID-19
Prophylaxis
Ivermectin
Mass drug administration
Prophylactic chemotherapy
a b s t r a c t
As COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) continues to rapidly spread throughout the world, the incidence
varies greatly among different countries. These differences raise the question whether nations with a
lower incidence share any medical commonalities that could be used not only to explain that lower incidence but also to provide guidance for potential treatments elsewhere. Such a treatment would be particularly valuable if it could be used as a prophylactic against SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2) transmission, thereby effectively slowing the spread of the disease while we await
the wide availability of safe and effective vaccines. Here, we show that countries with routine mass drug
administration of prophylactic chemotherapy including ivermectin have a significantly lower incidence of
COVID-19. Prophylactic use of ivermectin against parasitic infections is most common in Africa and we
hence show that the reported correlation is highly significant both when compared among African nations as well as in a worldwide context. We surmise that this may be connected to ivermectin’s ability
to inhibit SARS-CoV-2 replication, which likely leads to lower infection rates. However, other pathways
must exist to explain the persistence of such an inhibitory effect after serum levels of ivermectin have
declined. It is suggested that ivermectin be evaluated for potential off-label prophylactic use in certain
cases to help bridge the time until a safe and effective vaccine becomes available.
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