Alvarez-Moreno C, Cassell JA, Donkor CM, Head MG, Middleton J, Pomat W, Saka B, Yirgu R. 18/10/2021
Ivermectin is an oral anti-infective medicine that is integral to neglected tropical disease programmes. It is safe and effective for the treatment and control of lymphatic filariasis, scabies, and onchocerciasis, sometimes as part of a mass drug administration, as recognised in the WHO road map for neglected tropical diseases 2021–30.1 The WHO essential medicines list provides recommendations for minimum medicine needs for a basic health-care system, which includes ivermectin as an anthelmintic, antifilarial, and antiectoparasitic treatment.2
There has been a groundswell of opinion across several countries that ivermectin might be useful in reducing the symptoms of and mortality due to COVID-19, with many citing meta-analyses that infer positive effects;3 however, these conclusions appear to be unreliable. On March 31, 2021, WHO advised that ivermectin should only be used within clinical trials and not as part of routine clinical practice.4 This advice was followed by the manufacturer, Merck, that stated on Feb 4, 2021, that there is “no meaningful evidence for clinical activity or clinical efficacy in patients with COVID-19 disease”.5 Despite this, ivermectin is being routinely used in some Latin American settings amid recommendations from some governments and health professionals.