Ivermectin and COVID-19

Course overview

Viral infections are a major public health concern and cause of serious illness and hospitalization worldwide. The current COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a plethora of research studies within a relatively short period of time on the origin, transmission, prevention and treatment of SARS-CoV-2 infection in all age groups and special populations. Public policies and national health guidelines pertaining to emergency approval of the mRNA vaccines to control COVID-19 outbreaks continue to evolve and change worldwide. Most recently, multiple research articles have been published on the repurposing of ivermectin as a monotherapy or as a combination therapy for COVID-19 patients in the outpatient and inpatient setting. However, at this time there is no conclusive evidence that ivermectin is or is not an effective treatment for SARS-CoV-2 infection, and the FDA and other public health organizations have not approved ivermectin as a treatment for COVID-19. Nevertheless, there are studies emerging as well as observational reports from varied regions of the world that are in favor of using ivermectin for this purpose. Because ivermectin is being sought both by patients and health providers, health clinicians will need to be informed about the status of ivermectin as a treatment for COVID-19 and the status of the clinical trial funded by the National Institute of Health that is studying whether ivermectin may be repurposed as a treatment for COVID-19.