Volume 94, Issue 4 p. 1473-1480
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Effectiveness and safety of Ivermectin in COVID-19 patients: A prospective study at a safety-net hospital

Muhammet Ozer

Corresponding Author

Muhammet Ozer

Department of Internal Medicine, Capital Health Medical Center, Trenton, New Jersey, USA

Correspondence Muhammet Ozer, Department of Internal Medicine, Capital Health Medical Center, Trenton, NJ 08638, USA.

Email: [email protected]

Search for more papers by this author
Suleyman Yasin Goksu

Suleyman Yasin Goksu

Department of Internal Medicine, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, USA

Search for more papers by this author
Reena Conception

Reena Conception

Department of Pharmacology, Capital Health Medical Center, Trenton, New Jersey, USA

Search for more papers by this author
Esad Ulker

Esad Ulker

Department of Internal Medicine, Capital Health Medical Center, Trenton, New Jersey, USA

Search for more papers by this author
Rodolfo Magallanes Balderas

Rodolfo Magallanes Balderas

Department of Internal Medicine, Capital Health Medical Center, Trenton, New Jersey, USA

Search for more papers by this author
Mohammed Mahdi

Mohammed Mahdi

Department of Internal Medicine, Capital Health Medical Center, Trenton, New Jersey, USA

Search for more papers by this author
Zulfiya Manning

Zulfiya Manning

Department of Internal Medicine, Capital Health Medical Center, Trenton, New Jersey, USA

Search for more papers by this author
Kim To

Kim To

Department of Pharmacology, Capital Health Medical Center, Trenton, New Jersey, USA

Search for more papers by this author
Muhammad Effendi

Muhammad Effendi

Department of Pharmacology, Capital Health Medical Center, Trenton, New Jersey, USA

Search for more papers by this author
Rajashree Anandakrishnan

Rajashree Anandakrishnan

Department of Infectious Diseases, Capital Health Medical Center, Trenton, New Jersey, USA

Search for more papers by this author
Marc Whitman

Marc Whitman

Department of Infectious Diseases, Capital Health Medical Center, Trenton, New Jersey, USA

Search for more papers by this author
Manish Gugnani

Manish Gugnani

Department of Pulmonology and Critical Care, Capital Health Medical Center, Trenton, New Jersey, USA

Search for more papers by this author
First published: 23 November 2021
Citations: 11

Abstract

Ivermectin has been found to inhibit severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) replication in vitro. It is unknown whether this inhibition of SARS-CoV-2 replication correlates with improved clinical outcomes. To assess the effectiveness and safety of ivermectin in hospitalized patients with COVID-19. A total of 286 patients with COVID-19 were included in the study. Univariate analysis of the primary mortality outcome and comparisons between treatment groups were determined. Logistic regression and propensity score matching (PSM) was used to adjust for confounders. Patients in the ivermectin group received 2 doses of Ivermectin at 200 μg/kg in addition to usual clinical care on hospital Days 1 and 3. The ivermectin group had a significantly higher length of hospital stay than the control group; however, this significance did not maintain on multivariable logistic regression analysis. The length of intensive care unit (ICU) stay and duration of mechanical ventilation were longer in the control group. However, a mortality benefit was not seen with ivermectin treatment before and after PSM (p values = 0.07 and 0.11, respectively). ICU admission, and intubation rate were not significantly different between the groups (p = 0.49, and p = 1.0, respectively). No differences were found between groups regarding the length of hospital stay, ICU admission, intubation rate, and in-hospital mortality.

CONFLICT OF INTERESTS

The authors declare that there are no conflict of interests.

DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT

Data sharing is not applicable to this article as no new data were created or analyzed in this study.

The full text of this article hosted at iucr.org is unavailable due to technical difficulties.