International Centre for Diarrheal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b) yesterday started a clinical trial to evaluate the safety and efficacy of anti-parasitic medicine Ivermectin, the organisation stated in a press release.

The trial will be evaluating the drug as a standalone treatment, and in combination with the antibiotic doxycycline. The two-month study will be randomised, double-blind and placebo-controlled.

"The study will enroll 72 patients from four Covid-19 treating hospitals in Dhaka. Initially, the study has commenced with Kurmitola General Hospital and Mugda Medical College and Hospital and discussions with others are underway,"said the press release.

The participants will be aged between 40-65 years, and only those suffering for less than a week, and that too with mild illness, will be chosen, to ensure a standard baseline.

Ivermectin is a drug for parasitic infections and it has previously shown to have broad-spectrum anti-viral activity in vitro, the statement added.

In-vitro means that the tests were conducted on cells inside test-tubes, or on petri-dishes, but not in living organism.

"The study aims to understand the virological clearance rate and days required for remission of fever and cough by using Ivermectin with or without doxycycline," said icddr,b's press release.

https://www.thedailystar.net/city/news/icddrb-begins-clinical-trial-ivermectin-1916225

https://www.thedailystar.net/city/news/icddrb-begins-clinical-trial-ivermectin-1916225