Thought of the Day - December 9 - Great News

At the end of last month there was some really great news in the pursuit of treatment of COVID-19. No, not the latest announcements in the Vaccine Wars, I mean confirmation that we have an effective treatment for COVID-19. This anti-viral treatment was approved in Canada last year, to tackle other viral infections like dengue fever and Zika. Since the spring of 2020 a number of studies have shown its benefit in tackling SARS-CoV-2. A group of doctors just published a meta-study - basically an overall summary of real-world findings - confirming the effectiveness of this treatment. Moreover, this study was published in the US meaning it might now get the press it deserves here in Canada (as many previous studies were from countries like Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Peru, Romania, India, Bangladesh, Dominican Republic, Australia (oh and Florida)). The study concludes this treatment is between 60% and 98% effective across any and all of the COVID-19 phases: pre-exposure, post-exposure, in early and in late treatment. Moreover there have been no cases of increased illness. The treatment: IVERMECTIN.

Here is a link to the study (as you will probably not find it referred to by the popular press, yet): https://ivmmeta.com/ Please note this is distinct from the veterinary formulation used to treat heart-worm in animals - that you will find discussed in the press.

And some additional references:

• Eastern Virginia Medical School: https://www.evms.edu/media/evms_public/departments/internal_medicine/EVMS_Critical_Care_COVID-19_Protocol.pdf

• Front Line Alliance: https://covid19criticalcare.com/medical-evidence/ivermectin/ and https://covid19criticalcare.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/FLCCC-Ivermectin-in-the-prophylaxis-and-treatment-of-COVID-19.pdf

• National Center for Biotechnology Information: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7577703/

• Ivermectin news: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7550891/

This is the very good news. Unfortunately, you will not currently be treated with Ivermectin in BC, or Canada. Why, you might ask. Well unlike anti-virals such as Remdesivir, which was rapidly added by Canadian CDCs to the treatment list despite having no real-world clinical trials, there is no money in Ivermectin (its patents expired years ago). Thus no promotion by drug companies. I reported in October, Remdesivir was still on the BC CDC treatment list ( Thought of the Day - October 16 - COVID-19 Clinical Treatment ) but I am glad to say this list has now been updated and Remdesivir is finally on the "Not to Use" side.

Looking at the BC CDC page it says:

Other investigational agents including arbidol, ASC09, azvudine, baloxavir marboxil/favipiravir, camostat mesylate, darunavir/cobicistat, camrelizumab, famotidine, ivermectin, niacin, thymosin, natural health products, and traditional Chinese medicines are not recommended for treatment or prophylaxis of COVID-19 due to lack of data, lack of availability, or both.

Well there is no longer a lack of data, there never was a lack of availability so I guess the answer is: c) both.

So taking a page out of the US drug company marketing manual: "if you or a loved one has been exposed to or has tested positive for COVID-19 ask your doctor about Ivermectin". While you will not be able to get it, bringing attention to it might just speed its arrival in Canada and thus help a "Long Hauler" recover or even save a future life.

Cheers

Cliff