Safety and efficacy of a MEURI Program for the use of high dose ivermectin in COVID-19 patients
- Tushar Savaliya
- Oct 3, 2021
- 2 min read
Background
In the absence of antiviral alternatives, interventions under research for COVID-19 might be offered following guidelines from WHO for monitored emergency use of unregistered and experimental interventions (MEURI). Ivermectin is among several drugs explored for its role against SARS-CoV-2, with a well-known safety profile but conflicting data regarding clinical utility for COVID-19. This report aims to inform on the results of a MEURI Program of high-dose ivermectin in COVID-19 carried out by the Ministry of Health of the Province of La Pampa, Argentina.

Methods
COVID-19 subjects, within 5 days of symptoms onset were invited to participate in the program, which consisted of the administration of ivermectin 0.6 mg/kg/day for 5 days plus standard of care. Active pharmacy surveillance was performed for 21 days, and hepatic laboratory assessments were performed in a subset of patients. Frequency of Intensive Care Unit (ICU) admission and COVID-19-related mortality of subjects in the ivermectin intention to treat group was compared with that observed in inhabitants of the same province during the same period not participating in the program.




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