Covid-19: Ivermectin’s politicisation is a warning sign for doctors
BMJ 2021; 373 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.n747 (Published 01 April 2021) Cite this as: BMJ 2021;373:n747Read our latest coverage of the coronavirus outbreak
- Bibi-Aisha Wadvalla, freelance journalist
- Johannesburg, South Africa
- bb.aisha{at}gmail.com
As vaccination rollouts begin, the covid-19 pandemic continues. Doctors, particularly in low and middle income countries, are desperate to find effective treatments. Yet despite the high number of studies that have been undertaken, few have delivered clear cut results.
In the mix is ivermectin, a cheap antiparasitic drug widely used for nearly 50 years in animals and humans against diseases like lymphatic filariasis and onchocerciasis.1 During the pandemic, some doctors have claimed it to be effective for both prophylaxis and treatment of covid-19.
The debate has reached fever pitch in South Africa, which has the worst infection rate in Africa. Groups of doctors and patients have pressured the government into granting emergency approval for treatment of covid-19, enabling wider access to a drug that’s not currently licensed in the country for use in human patients. But other scientists point to the still weak or conflicting evidence base as a strong enough reason why it should not be given an endorsement, at least until a thorough randomised controlled trial is done.
Rise of an unlicensed treatment
In April 2020, researchers at Monash University in Australia reported that ivermectin inhibits the replication of SARS-CoV-2 in vitro.2 By June 2020, it had been added to the treatment guidelines of Bolivia, Guatemala, and Peru,3 on the basis of a since retracted preprint by the discredited company Surgisphere and popular demand.4 Its use is now widespread, although Peru later withdrew its recommendation, but the Pan-American Health Organisation has issued a warning against using ivermectin to treat covid-19.5
In December 2020, Pierre Kory, president of the Frontline …