Many publications distributed on social networks around the world present ivermectin, an antiparasitic drug, as a useful treatment against 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 has not been demonstrated in humans, as studies have so far been limited. and with many biases.
Moreover, very often in vitro treatments cannot be translated into humans, especially since the same drug concentrations cannot be administered.
“Ivermectin is a ‘miracle drug. It’s not toxic. I think it’s a gift from God to save the human race from covid-19,” says, for example, a post in Korean on Facebook, similar to those circulating in countries such as Brazil and South Africa.
In the United States, doctors have gathered in a group called the Front Line COVID-19 Critical Care Alliance, which is vigorously defending the drug. Its leader, Dr. Pierre Kory, even said in December that its effectiveness had been proven before a U.S. Senate committee.
In France, a website promoting so-called alternative therapies and a source of false information claimed last month that “all the scientific evidence shows the effectiveness of ivermectin.”
– Strong echo in Latin America –
These types of statements have proliferated especially in recent months in Latin America, to the point where AFP has published several articles on the issue in Spanish and Portuguese, showing that there has been no proven treatment for 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 by other leaders such as Donald Trump, but whose effectiveness has not been proven by science.
To support both drugs, the same rhetoric is often used on social networks, 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 asked health minister Olivier Véran last week for information on possible treatments for COVID-19, citing hydroxychloroquine, vitamin D and ivermectin.
In fact, “most clinical trials (recently published) on this topic are inconclusive, most are either pre-publications that are not validated by colleagues, or, when published, are studies with methodological bias, so the results are difficult to interpret. and I do not allow conclusions to be drawn ”, summarizes the French Society of Pharmacology and Therapeutics.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), its South African counterpart (SAHPRA) and Mexican health authorities have also publicly stated that ivermectin is not considered an anticovide treatment due to a lack of reliable and robust scientific data.
As for Unitaid, the international organization for the purchase of medicines for poor countries that closely monitors any potential treatment for covid-19, it estimates that there are “promising preliminary data” but that “we must wait for the results of other studies” before providing finally new stages.
“To be 100% sure of the effectiveness of a drug, we need the results of larger randomized controlled trials than ever before,” Professor Kim Woo-joo, a professor in the disease department, told AFP. infectious diseases at the Korean University Hospital in Seoul.