The logo of the World Health Organization (WHO) at the entrance to its HQ in Geneva.

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Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP

With the exception of clinical trials, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended on Wednesday "not to use ivermectin" for patients with coronavirus, data from clinical studies not having provided convincing results on its effectiveness according to experts.

Ivermectin is a commonly used antiparasitic that is the subject of an intense promotional campaign on social media.

Not recommended by the United States

“Our recommendation is not to use ivermectin for patients with Covid-19.

This applies regardless of the level of severity or duration of the symptoms, ”explained Janet Diaz, head of the clinical team in charge of the response to Covid-19 within the UN agency.

She pointed out that the only exception to this recommendation, which is based on the current state of research, was for clinical trials.

WHO experts drew their conclusions from a total of 16 randomized clinical trials with 2,400 participants, but part of those trials compare ivermectin with other drugs.

The number of studies comparing ivermectin to a placebo "is much smaller," said Dr Bram Rochwerg, researcher at McMaster University in Canada and member of the WHO evaluation panel. .

Dr Diaz, like Dr Rochwerg, said these recommendations are "alive" and will be updated if further research invalidates or adds to the current state of knowledge.

The WHO recommendation - the first concerning ivermectin - comes in the wake of that of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) which, like the WHO, does not recommend its use except for trials clinics.

Its US counterpart, the FDA, advises against ivermectin on its website because data is lacking to justify its use.

Rock star ivermectin

The WHO recommendation should cause skepticism and anger among the many defenders of this drug for veterinary and human use, used against parasites, such as scabies, river blindness (onchocerciasis) or lice.

The enthusiasm comes in particular from an Australian study published in the spring of 2020 which observed an efficacy in vitro, that is to say in the laboratory, of ivermectin on Sars-CoV-2, the virus that gives rise to Covid -19.

Inexpensive, already used in some countries, for example in Latin America, ivermectin shares similarities with hydroxychloroquine, defended tooth and nail by some doctors and political figures, although its effectiveness has not been proven and that 'a large clinical trial even concluded that there were no effects.

Very often, for ivermectin as for hydroxycholoroquine, we find the same rhetoric with conspiratorial overtones, according to which these drugs are deliberately ignored by the authorities because they are not profitable for the pharmaceutical industry.

Since the end of March 2021, the drug has been the subject of a massive promotional campaign on social networks, relayed on the keyword #BeBraveWHO (#be courageous WHO), to ask the World Health Organization to authorize the molecule against Covid.

No harmless medication

Proponents of ivermectin, like those of hydroxychloroquine, often argue that it is already widely used around the world, albeit for entirely different indications, and that it does not So there is nothing to fear.

Dr Rochwerg points out that "the doses and regimens that have been used in the treatment of people with Covid are not the same as those used for other indications and therefore, even though it is a relatively safe drug , there is always a potential for it to be dangerous ”under these conditions.

And, for him, is added the fact that using a drug whose effectiveness is not proven "is a diversion of the attention and the means" compared to what works.

"Therefore, in the absence of evidence of efficacy, at least on the basis of the data we have, the guideline development group judged that these other factors outweighed uncertain potential benefits."

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Coronavirus: No, ivermectin is not a "very effective" drug against the disease

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