Self-prescribed Ivermectin use is associated with a lower rate of seroconversion in health care workers diagnosed with COVID, in a dose-dependent response
Pedroso et al.,
Self-prescribed Ivermectin use is associated with a lower rate of seroconversion in health care workers..,
The Brazilian Journal of Infectious Diseases, doi:10.1016/j.bjid.2021.101603
Retrospective 45 healthcare workes in Brazil, showing lower creation of antibodies with multiple doses of ivermectin, which may be expected due to the antiviral activity as demonstrated in multiple studies. Authors appear unaware of these studies, citing only earlier
in vitro research, which they misinterpret to suggest that therapeutic concentrations are not reached (for details on why this is incorrect see
[c19ivermectin.com]). Authors combine no dose and one dose. Clinical outcomes and timing of treatment are not provided.
Pedroso et al., 12 Aug 2021, peer-reviewed, 11 authors.
Abstract: ARTICLE IN PRESS
braz j infect dis. 2021;xxx(xx):101603
The Brazilian Journal of
INFECTIOUS DISEASES
w w w. e l s e v i e r. c o m / l o c a t e / b j i d
Brief Communication
Self-prescribed Ivermectin use is associated with a lower
rate of seroconversion in health care workers diagnosed
with COVID, in a dose-dependent response
Q1
1X XCXD elia Pedroso D2XaX , D3X XSara Vaz aD4X X , D5X XEduardo Martins Netto aD6X X , D7X XDaniele Souza D8XaX ,
D9X XFelice Deminco aD10X X , D1X XRafaela Mayoral D12XaX , D13X XEliana Menezes aD14X X ,
D15X XAna Patricia Amancio da Cunha aD16X X , D17X XAndres Moreira-Soto D18XbX , D19X XIan Felix Drexler D20Xb,c
X ,
a,
D21X XCarlos Brites D2X X *
rio Professor Edgard Santos, Laboratorio de Pesquisa em
Federal University of Bahia, Complexo Hospitalar Universita
Infectologia (LAPI), Bahia, BA, Brazil
b
€ tsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universita
€ t Berlin, Humboldt-Universita
€ t zu Berlin,
Charite-Universita
a
Institute of Virology, Berlin, Germany
German Centre for Infection Research, Berlin, Germany
c
A R T I C L E
I N F O
A B S T R A C T
Article history:
Background: Over-the-counter use of ivermectin amongst other drugs as SARS-CoV-2 treat-
Received 19 May 2021
ment has been increasingly common, despite the lack of evidence on its clinical efficacy.
Accepted 5 July 2021
Objective: To evaluate the effect of ivermectin use on production of antibodies against SARS-
Available online xxx
CoV-2 in health care workers (HCW) diagnosed with COVID-19 and of Th1/Th2 cytokines by
stimulated peripheral blood mononuclear cells of the same cohort (PBMCs).
Methods: This cross-sectional study evaluated seroconversion and neutralizing antibodies
rio Professor Edgard Santos (Salvaproduction in HCW at Complexo Hospitalar Universita
dor, Brazil), diagnosed with COVID-19 from May to July, 2020, as well as in vitro production
of antibody against SARS-CoV-2 and Th1/Th2 cytokines. Analyses were performed between
December 2020 and February 2021. Participants were stratified according to the use of ivermectin (≤ 1 dose vs. multiple doses) for treatment of COVID-19.
Results: 45 HCW were included (62% women). Mean age was 39 years, and disease severity
was similar across groups. Neutralizing antibodies were detected less frequently in multiple
doses (70%) vs. ≤ 1 dose (97%) groups, p = 0.02). PBMCs of patients in multiple doses group
also were less likely to produce antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 following in vitro stimulation
with purified spike protein in comparison with patients in ≤ 1 dose group (p < 0.001). PBMCs
production of Th1/Th2 cytokines levels was similar across groups. Abdominal pain (15% vs
46%, p = 0.04), diarrhea (21% vs. 55%, p = 0.05) and taste perversion (0% vs. 18%, p = 0.05) were
more frequently reported by participants that used multiple doses of ivermectin.
Conclusions: Although there was no evidence for differential disease severity upon ivermectin use for treatment of COVID-19 it was associated with more gastro-intestinal side-effects
and impairment of anti-SARS-CoV2 antibodies production, in a dose dependent manner.
* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: crbrites@gmail.com (C. Brites).
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bjid.2021.101603
1413-8670/Ó 2021 Sociedade Brasileira de Infectologia. Published by Elsevier España, S.L.U. This is an open access article under the CC BYNC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
Please cite this article as: C. Pedroso..
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