Ivermectin treatment for COVID-19 patients is not FDA-approved. For the treatment of COVID-19, ivermectin should only be given to individuals as part of a clinical study in a research setting.
Items containing ivermectin that are approved for use in animals shouldn’t be consumed by humans. Veterinary products include far more ivermectin and are made to treat larger animals than medications intended for human use.
What is ivermectin?
FDA-approved ivermectin tablets are currently available to treat intestinal parasitic worms, Strongyloides stercoralis, Onchocerca volvulus, and parasitic diseases.
Recently, there has been research on the use of ivermectin to treat several infections.
Clinical trials involving humans have been conducted to assess the efficacy of ivermectin in combating COVID-19. It’s still uncertain if ivermectin can effectively treat COVID-19, thus more research is needed.
Invermectin has been shown to be safe for use in humans, but only when taken as directed.
SARS-CoV-2, or severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, is the virus that causes COVID-19. (2019 coronavirus disease)
Was ivermectin ever authorized by the FDA as a medication?
Ivermectin 12 Mg, commonly known as Stromectol, are an FDA-approved medicine that can be used to treat intestinal worms such as Strongyloides stercoralis and Onchocerca volvulus.
A 1% ivermectin lotion called Soolantra has received FDA approval to treat rosacea.
Ivermectin has not received FDA approval to treat COVID-19.
Ivermectin pills can also be used off-label for a number of other ailments.
Ivermectin designed for animal purposes should not be consumed by humans.
The WHO’s treatment recommendation for COVID-19 with ivermectin
The WHO Therapeutics and COVID-19 Living Guideline contains the most recent recommendations for COVID-19 drugs from the World Health Organization (WHO).
They advise against giving ivermectin to COVID-19 patients outside of clinical trials or research settings.
This advice is the result of a systematic evaluation of randomized clinical trials that used ivermectin for COVID-19. They draw the conclusion that there is substantial skepticism regarding the safety and effectiveness of ivermectin in the treatment of COVID-19 based on their examination of the data from these trials.
Due to a significant bias risk and a high likelihood of being imprecise, some of the ivermectin trials for COVID-19 are ambiguous.
Ivermectin has a significantly lower number of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) than other COVID-19 treatments. In the ivermectin RCT, there were a few smaller trials with fewer patients enrolled and events recorded.
To determine whether ivermectin effectively cures COVID-19, more RCTs with higher quality evidence are required.
NIH guidelines Treatment for COVID-19: Ivermectin
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) COVID-19 therapy Guidelines contain the most recent recommendations for COVID-19 therapy.
Outside of clinical studies, the NHI panel recommends against using ivermectin to treat COVID-19.
The panel looked over a number of significant studies before recommending this course of action. Research findings on the use of ivermectin differ; some indicate no benefits or a worsening of the condition, while others show a decrease in death rates and a shorter time for COVID-19 symptoms to go away. The panel stated that most of these studies had:
Not enough information
Serious methodological problems, such as a small sample size, irregular dosage and scheduling, open-label studies, concomitant use of other medications, a hazy description of COVID-19 severity, and imprecise outcome measures.
The EPIC, TOGETHER, and I-TECH trials are more recent clinical trials that addressed the limitations of previous ivermectin investigations. It has not been demonstrated beyond a reasonable doubt in these more recent experiments that ivermectin reduces recovery times or terminates the COVID-19 virus.
The NIH went on to say that several medications that have demonstrated clinical potential in the treatment of COVID-19 are now available.