Ivermectin in combination with doxycycline for treating COVID-19 symptoms: a randomized trial

06, April 2021 |

Authors:

Abstract

Objective: We evaluated whether ivermectin combined with doxycycline reduced the clinical recovery time in adults with COVID-19 infection. Methods: This was a randomized, blinded, placebo-controlled trial in patients with mild-to- moderate COVID-19 symptoms randomly assigned to treatment (n 1⁄4 200) and placebo (n 1⁄4 200) groups. The primary outcome was duration from treatment to clinical recovery. Secondary outcomes were disease progression and persistent COVID-19 positivity by RT-PCR. Results: Among 556 screened patients, 400 were enrolled and 363 completed follow-up. The mean patient age was 40 years, and 59% were men. The median recovery time was 7 (4–10, treatment group) and 9 (5–12, placebo group) days (hazard ratio, 0.73; 95% confidence interval, 0.60–0.90). The number of patients with a 7-day recovery was 61% (treatment group) and 44% (placebo groups) (hazard ratio, 0.06; 95% confidence interval, 0.04–0.09). The proportion of patients who remained RT-PCR positive on day 14 and whose disease did not progress was significantly lower in the treatment group than in the placebo group. Conclusions: Patients with mild-to-moderate COVID-19 infection treated with ivermectin plus doxycycline recovered earlier, were less likely to progress to more serious disease, and were more likely to be COVID-19 negative by RT-PCR on day 14.