Many social media posts around the world feature ivermectin, an antiparasitic drug, as a useful treatment for covid-19, and even as a “miracle” remedy. But so far its effectiveness has not been proven, explained several experts and institutions.
Ivermectin is a cheap drug for veterinary and human use used against parasites such as scabies, onchocerciasis and lice.
However, although an Australian study published in April 2020 observed an in vitro (laboratory) efficacy of invermectin against the SARS-CoV-2 virus, this is not demonstrated in humans, as so far the trials were limited and with many biases.
In addition, very often in vitro treatments cannot be transferred to humans, especially because the same drug concentrations cannot be administered.
“The ‘miracle drug’ ivermectin. It’s not toxic. I think it’s a gift from God to save the human race from covid-19,” says for example a Korean post on Facebook, similar to those also circulating in countries such as Brazil and South Africa.
In the United States, doctors gathered in a group called the “Front line COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance” are eagerly advocating for this drug. Its top official, Dr. Pierre Kory, said even in December that its effectiveness had been tested before a U.S. Senate committee.
In France, a website that promotes so-called alternative therapies and a source of false information claimed last month that “all scientific evidence shows the effectiveness of ivermectin.”
– Strong echo in Latin America –
Such claims have proliferated especially in recent months in Latin America, to the point that AFP published several articles on the subject in Spanish and Portuguese, showing that it was not a proven treatment against covid -19.
On January 5, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who had already promoted hydroxychloroquine as an effective drug against covid-19, defended the use of ivermectin on Twitter.
Hydroxychloroquine is also an antiparasitic drug promoted at the beginning of the pandemic equally by other leaders like Donald Trump, but its effectiveness has not been proven by science either.
To support both drugs the same rhetoric is often used on social media, according to which the authorities ignore them because they are cheap and therefore not profitable for the pharmaceutical industry.
– “Inconclusive” studies –
In France, Eurosceptic politicians Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, François Asselineau and Florian Philippot last week demanded from Health Minister Olivier Véran information on possible treatments for covid-19, citing hydroxychloroquine, vitamin D and ivermectin.
In fact, “most (published) recent clinical studies on the subject are inconclusive, most are either pre-publications not validated by colleagues, or, when published, these are studies with methodological biases of so that the results are difficult to interpret and do not allow conclusions to be drawn, “sums up the French Society of Pharmacology and Therapeutics.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), its South African counterpart (SAHPRA), and Mexican health authorities have also publicly stated that ivermectin is not considered an antidepressant treatment, due to the lack of reliable and solid scientific data.
As for Unitaid, the international organization for the purchase of medicines for poor countries that closely monitors all potential treatment for covid-19, it estimates that there are “promising preliminary data”, but that “the results of other trials, ”before eventually anticipating new stages.
“To be 100% sure of the effectiveness of a drug, results of larger controlled randomized trials are needed” than has been done so far, Professor Kim Woo-joo, a professor, told AFP from the Infectious Diseases Department at Korea University Hospital in Seoul.