Regular Use of Ivermectin as Prophylaxis for COVID-19 Led Up to a 92% Reduction in COVID- 19 Mortality Rate in a Dose-Response Manner

Results of a Prospective Observational Study of a Strictly Controlled Population of 88,012 Subjects

Published: August 31, 2022

DOI: 10.7759/cureus.28624

Cite this article as: Kerr L, Baldi F, Lobo R, et al. (August 31, 2022) Regular Use of Ivermectin as Prophylaxis for COVID-19 Led Up to a 92% Reduction in COVID-19 Mortality Rate in a Dose-Response Manner: Results of a Prospective Observational Study of a Strictly Controlled Population of 88,012 Subjects. Cureus 14(8): e28624. doi:10.7759/cureus.28624

Among 223,128 subjects from the city of Itajaí, 159,560 were 18 years old or up and were not infected by
COVID-19 until July 7, 2020, from which 45,716 (28.7%) did not use and 113,844 (71.3%) used ivermectin.
Among ivermectin users, 33,971 (29.8%) used irregularly (up to 60 mg) and 8,325 (7.3%) used regularly
(more than 180 mg). The remaining 71,548 participants were not included in the analysis. COVID-19
infection rate was 49% lower for regular users (3.40%) than non-users (6.64%) (risk rate (RR): 0.51; 95% CI:
0.45-0.58; p < 0.0001), and 25% lower than irregular users (4.54%) (RR: 0.75; 95% CI: 0.66-0.85; p < 0.0001).
The infection rate was 32% lower for irregular users than non-users (RR: 0.68; 95% CI: 0.64-0.73; p < 0.0001).
Among COVID-19 participants, regular users were older and had a higher prevalence of type 2 diabetes and
hypertension than irregular and non-users. After PSM, the matched analysis contained 283 subjects in each
group of non-users and regular users, between regular users and irregular users, and 1,542 subjects between
non-users and irregular users. The hospitalization rate was reduced by 100% in regular users compared to
both irregular users and non-users (p < 0.0001), and by 29% among irregular users compared to non-users
(RR: 0.781; 95% CI: 0.49-1.05; p = 0.099). Mortality rate was 92% lower in regular users than non-users (RR:
0.08; 95% CI: 0.02-0.35; p = 0.0008) and 84% lower than irregular users (RR: 0.16; 95% CI: 0.04-0.71; p =
0.016), while irregular users had a 37% lower mortality rate reduction than non-users (RR: 0.67; 95%
CI: 0.40-0.99; p = 0.049). Risk of dying from COVID-19 was 86% lower among regular users than non-users
(RR: 0.14; 95% CI: 0.03-0.57; p = 0.006), and 72% lower than irregular users (RR: 0.28; 95% CI: 0.07-1.18; p =
0.083), while irregular users had a 51% reduction compared to non-users (RR: 0.49; 95% CI: 0.32-0.76; p =
0.001).

Conclusion

Non-use of ivermectin was associated with a 12.5-fold increase in mortality rate and a seven-fold increased
risk of dying from COVID-19 compared to the regular use of ivermectin. This dose-response efficacy
reinforces the prophylactic effects of ivermectin against COVID-19.

20220831-16236-4xg6tt

Source: https://www.cureus.com/articles/111851-regular-use-of-ivermectin-as-prophylaxis-for-covid-19-led-up-to-a-92-reduction-in-covid-19-mortality-rate-in-a-dose-response-manner-results-of-a-prospective-observational-study-of-a-strictly-controlled-population-of-88012-subjects

The HighWire | 6 September 2022