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A collaborative study led by the Biomedicine Discovery Institute (BDI) of Monash University in Melbourne (Australia), together with the Peter Doherty Institute of Infection and Immunity (Doherty Institute), has shown in cell cultures that an antiparasitic medicine, called ivermectin and Available worldwide, it is capable of killing the new coronavirus in 48 hours.

"We have found that even a single dose could eliminate all viral RNA within 48 hours, and that, furthermore, a truly significant reduction occurs within 24 hours," said the researchers, whose work has been published in the journal 'Antiviral. Research '.

It is an antiparasitic drug approved by the American Drug Agency (FDA) that has also been shown to be effective 'in vitro' against a wide range of viruses, including HIV, dengue, influenza and Zika. However, experts have warned that the tests have yet to be performed on people.

"Ivermectin is widely used and is considered a safe drug. We now need to determine whether the dose that can be used in humans will be effective, that is the next step. Right now where we have a global pandemic and there is no approved treatment, if we had a compound that was already available worldwide, it could help people sooner. Realistically, it will be a while before a widely available vaccine is applied, "experts have stressed.

Although the mechanism by which ivermectin works in the virus is unknown, it is likely, based on its action on other viruses, that it works to prevent the virus from "attenuating" the ability of host cells to kill it. The use of ivermectin to combat Covid-19 will depend on the results of further preclinical tests and, ultimately, clinical trials.

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