Ivermectin is a drug for parasitic infections which has been in use since 1980 and approved by the Food and Drug Administration, USA. It has previously shown to have broad-spectrum anti-viral activity in vitro. The study will enrol 72 patients from four COVID-19 treating hospitals in Dhaka.
Initially, the study has commenced with Kurmitola General Hospital and Mugda Medical College and Hospital and discussions with others underway.
In Bangladesh, more than 90,000 people have tested positive while approximately 1,250 have died. When contracted, the virus causes respiratory illness that range from mild (coughing, fever) to severe (pneumonia, trouble breathing). The rate of spread of COVID-19 and its associated morbidity and mortality has been unprecedented.
More than 8.2 million people worldwide have contracted the coronavirus and about 445,000 died in less than five months.
The worst cases can be fatal, especially in older adults and people with underlying health conditions.
The study aims to understand the virological clearance rate and days required for remission of fever and cough by using Ivermectin with or without doxycycline.
It will also try to understand the changes in oxygen requirement, reasons for patients failing to maintain oxygen saturation (SpO2) above 88 per cent despite oxygenation, changes in number of days on oxygen support and hospitalisation, and causes of mortality.
Because of the rapid replication of this virus we need to find effective antiviral drugs against SARS-CoV-2 virus. Unfortunately, we do not have any such drugs for COVID-19 on the shelf and it may take decades to develop new ones. Therefore, we have to explore drugs that are already on the markets, that are well studied, having a low side effect profile and can save lives- icddr,b’s senior scientist Wasif Ali Khan said in a statement. ♦
