Randomized Double-Blinded Clinical Trial at Sheba Medical Center: Ivermectin Materially Reduces COVID-19
Viral Shedding A small but important randomized, double-blinded clinical trial sponsored by a top Israeli principal investigator and infectious disease physician
embraced the use of ivermectin as a possible candidate to reduce viral shedding as well as lessen clinical deterioration for a targeted 100 early-onset, mild COVID-19 patients.
The director of the Center for Geographic & Tropical Medicine at Sheba Medical Center, Sackler Faculty of Medicine,
Tel Aviv, Professor Eli Schwartz,conducted this clinical trial starting in the summer.
TrialSite spoke with Professor Schwartz in November, and he was still enrolling patients;
however, he was recently able to conclude the study and report on the results on Vimeo.
The study’s takeaway:
ivermectin significantly reduces the viral shedding overall in patients with COVID-19.
Moreover, while the patient sample wasn’t sufficiently sized, the data did reveal that the drug typically used to treat parasites can reduce infectivity duration.
Professor Eli Schwartz
concludes that more research is needed to capitalize on this promising drug’s potential to significantly impact public health during the pandemic.
For example, the drug shows potential
to treat COVID-19 patients who,for whatever reasons, cannot get vaccinated; and of course, in the developing world where vaccination may be out into the future.
Note that the study results have only been summarized by the Principal investigator and that they must be reviewed by the biomedical scientific community.
TrialSite introduced this important clinical trial originally back on June 15, introducing Dr. Eli Schwartz, the prominent researcher and physician who runs Israel’s only tropical medicine institute.
TrialSite notes that this study
A) hasn’t been peer-reviewed;
B) nor has it been written up and uploaded to pre-print server and that
C) it’s currently only Professor Schwartz summarizing his findings for the world via Vimeo video presentation.
TrialSite qualifies that this study information cannot be considered complete until the results are reviewed by the scientific community.