A study of more than 1,500 adults with mild to moderate COVID-19 infections found ivermectin did not significantly shorten illness duration when compared to a placebo.
The research, published Oct. 21 in JAMA, adds to a growing body of evidence that ivermectin is not an effective treatment for COVID-19, study authors said.
A team led by researchers at the Duke Clinical Research Institute in Durham, N.C., analyzed data on 1,591 adults aged 30 or older treated for COVID-19 at 93 U.S. outpatient settings between June 23, 2021, and Feb. 4, 2022. About half of patients were randomly assigned to receive ivermectin, while the other half received a placebo.
The hazard ratio for improvement in recovery time — meaning the chance of accelerated recovery occurring in ivermectin group divided by the chance in the control arm — was 1.07, which suggests ivermectin did not offer significant clinical benefit, study authors said. The median recovery time for patients given ivermectin was 12 days, compared to 13 days for the placebo group.
"Among outpatients with mild to moderate COVID-19, treatment with ivermectin, compared with placebo, did not significantly improve time to recovery," the study authors wrote. "A lack of treatment effect was also seen for secondary clinical outcomes including hospitalization, death or acute care visits. These findings do not support the use of ivermectin in patients with mild to moderate COVID-19."
Read the full study here.