Ivermectin Decreases Mortality (March 2022)

By Dr Frank Yap, M.D. - March 17, 2022

While ivermectin has been widely vilified as either useless, dangerous or both, studies have repeatedly demonstrated its usefulness against COVID-19. Most recently, a study1 published in the March 2022 issue of the International Journal of Infectious Diseases again found that treatment with ivermectin reduced mortality in COVID-19 patients — and to a greater degree than remdesivir.

In the video above, nursing educator John Campbell, Ph.D., reviews the findings of this paper. Importantly, the researchers compared the use of ivermectin against the use of remdesivir, which is one of the few drugs recommended for use against COVID in the U.S.

To compare outcomes between the two treatments, they analyzed data from a network of 44 health care organizations with 68 million patients. Patients aged 18 and over with a recorded COVID-19 infection between January 1, 2020, and July 11, 2021, were included in the analysis. Patients who received only remdesivir but not ivermectin were compared against those who received ivermectin but not remdesivir.

After controlling for a variety of confounding factors, including but not limited to comorbidities, other treatments that might affect COVID-19 survival, age, gender, ethnicity, nicotine use, diabetes, obesity and ventilator use, they concluded that treatment with ivermectin reduced mortality to a greater degree than remdesivir.

As noted by Campbell, remdesivir is an extremely expensive drug, costing between $2,340 and $3,120 depending on your insurance.2 Ivermectin, meanwhile, costs between $483 and $954 for 20 pills depending on your location. The average cost is said to be about $58 per treatment.5

Ivermectin Outperforms Other Drug Options

Another recent investigation by Cornell University, posted on the University’s preprint server6 January 20, 2022, found ivermectin outperformed no less than 10 other drugs. Here, the researchers used a computational analysis to look at the Omicron variant, which has demonstrated a lower clinical presentation and lower hospital admission rates.

After having retrieved the complete genome sequence and collecting 30 variants from the database, the researchers analyzed 10 drugs against the virus, including ivermectin, nirmatrelvir, ritonavir, lopinavir and boceprevir. While all of the 10 drugs had some degree of effectiveness against the virus, ivermectin was the most effective against the Omicron variant.

Of special note here is the inclusion of nirmatrelvir (Paxlovid), a new protease inhibitor that was granted emergency use authorization against COVID in December 2021.7 This drug, created by Pfizer, has cost U.S. taxpayers $5.29 billion — $529 per course of treatment,8 not quite as expensive as remdesivir, but still nearly 10 times more costly than ivermectin, which is also more effective.

Aside from affirming the benefit of ivermectin, these studies also reveal the government’s incredible wastefulness. Billions upon billions of taxpayer dollars have been wasted on novel drugs with poor effectiveness, while dirt-cheap drugs have been ignored, suppressed and outright criminalized.

How Ivermectin Works

While ivermectin is best known as an antiparasitic,9 it also has antiviral and anti-inflammatory properties. Studies have shown it helps to lower the viral load by inhibiting replication.10 A single dose of ivermectin can kill 99.8% of the virus within 48 hours.11 It also impairs the spike protein’s ability to attach to the ACE2 receptor on human cell membranes,12 which helps prevent infection of the cell.

A meta-analysis in the American Journal of Therapeutics13 showed the drug reduced infection by an average of 86% when used preventively.

An observational study14 in Bangladesh evaluated the effectiveness of ivermectin as a prophylaxis for COVID-19 in health care workers. Only four of the 58 volunteers who took 12 mg of ivermectin once a month for four months developed mild COVID symptoms, compared to 44 of the 60 health care workers who declined the medication.

Ivermectin has also been shown to speed recovery, in part by inhibiting inflammation and protecting against organ damage.15 This pathway also lowers the risk of hospitalization and death. Meta analyses have shown an average reduction in mortality that ranges from 75%16 to 83%.17,18

The drug also prevents transmission of SARS-CoV-2 when taken before or after exposure,19 and helps prevent blood clots if you’re infected by binding to SARS-CoV-2 spike protein.

This prevents the spike protein from binding to CD147 on red blood cells and triggering clumping.20 (Please note, if you check this reference, you’ll find it’s retracted; however, journal editors point out the retraction was due to questions on the methodology and conclusions, not on the mechanisms of action of ivermectin.)

So, added together, all of these benefits suggest ivermectin could easily have ended this pandemic within the first year, if not within months, had it been widely used.

Ivermectin for COVID-19: Real-time meta analysis

For an up-to-date overview of all published studies on ivermectin in the treatment and prevention of COVID-19 we recommend visiting c19ivermectin.com; in addition, a meta-analysis of all studies can be found at ivmmeta.com (constantly updated). For adoption and regulatory status of ivermectin globally, check out ivmstatus.com.

Sources and References

Search This Blog

The COVID Advisor