Role of ivermectin in the prevention of SARS-CoV-2 infection among healthcare workers in India: A matched case-control study
Priyamadhaba Behera, Binod Kumar Patro, Arvind Kumar Singh, Pradnya Dilip Chandanshive, Ravikumar S. R., Somen Kumar Pradhan, Siva Santosh Kumar Pentapati, Gitanjali Batmanabane, Prasanta Raghab Mohapatra, Biswa Mohan Padhy, Shakti Kumar Bal, Sudipta Ranjan Singh, Rashmi Ranjan Mohanty
PLOS ONE, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0247163
Background Ivermectin is one among several potential drugs explored for its therapeutic and preventive role in SARS-CoV-2 infection. The study was aimed to explore the association between ivermectin prophylaxis and the development of SARS-CoV-2 infection among healthcare workers.
Methods A hospital-based matched case-control study was conducted among healthcare workers of AIIMS Bhubaneswar, India, from September to October 2020. Profession, gender, age and date of diagnosis were matched for 186 case-control pairs. Cases and controls were healthcare workers who tested positive and negative, respectively, for COVID-19 by RT-PCR. Exposure was defined as the intake of ivermectin and/or hydroxychloroquine and/or vitamin-C and/or other prophylaxis for COVID-19. Data collection and entry was done in Epicol-lect5, and analysis was performed using STATA version 13. Conditional logistic regression models were used to describe the associated factors for SARS-CoV-2 infection.
Results Ivermectin prophylaxis was taken by 76 controls and 41 cases. Two-dose ivermectin prophylaxis (AOR 0.27, 95% CI, 0.15-0.51) was associated with a 73% reduction of SARS-CoV-2 infection among healthcare workers for the following month. Those involved in physical activity (AOR 3.06 95% CI, 1.18-7.93) for more than an hour/day were more likely to contract SARS-CoV-2 infection. Type of household, COVID duty, single-dose ivermectin
Supporting information S1 Appendix. Questionnaire used in the study (English and Odia language). (PDF)
S1 Protocol. Study protocol. (DOC)
Author Contributions
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'abstract': '<jats:sec id="sec001">\n'
'<jats:title>Background</jats:title>\n'
'<jats:p>Ivermectin is one among several potential drugs explored for its therapeutic and '
'preventive role in SARS-CoV-2 infection. The study was aimed to explore the association '
'between ivermectin prophylaxis and the development of SARS-CoV-2 infection among healthcare '
'workers.</jats:p>\n'
'</jats:sec>\n'
'<jats:sec id="sec002">\n'
'<jats:title>Methods</jats:title>\n'
'<jats:p>A hospital-based matched case-control study was conducted among healthcare workers of '
'AIIMS Bhubaneswar, India, from September to October 2020. Profession, gender, age and date of '
'diagnosis were matched for 186 case-control pairs. Cases and controls were healthcare workers '
'who tested positive and negative, respectively, for COVID-19 by RT-PCR. Exposure was defined '
'as the intake of ivermectin and/or hydroxychloroquine and/or vitamin-C and/or other '
'prophylaxis for COVID-19. Data collection and entry was done in Epicollect5, and analysis was '
'performed using STATA version 13. Conditional logistic regression models were used to '
'describe the associated factors for SARS-CoV-2 infection.</jats:p>\n'
'</jats:sec>\n'
'<jats:sec id="sec003">\n'
'<jats:title>Results</jats:title>\n'
'<jats:p>Ivermectin prophylaxis was taken by 76 controls and 41 cases. Two-dose ivermectin '
'prophylaxis (AOR 0.27, 95% CI, 0.15–0.51) was associated with a 73% reduction of SARS-CoV-2 '
'infection among healthcare workers for the following month. Those involved in physical '
'activity (AOR 3.06 95% CI, 1.18–7.93) for more than an hour/day were more likely to contract '
'SARS-CoV-2 infection. Type of household, COVID duty, single-dose ivermectin prophylaxis, '
'vitamin-C prophylaxis and hydroxychloroquine prophylaxis were not associated with SARS-CoV-2 '
'infection.</jats:p>\n'
'</jats:sec>\n'
'<jats:sec id="sec004">\n'
'<jats:title>Conclusion</jats:title>\n'
'<jats:p>Two-dose ivermectin prophylaxis at a dose of 300 μg/kg with a gap of 72 hours was '
'associated with a 73% reduction of SARS-CoV-2 infection among healthcare workers for the '
'following month. Chemoprophylaxis has relevance in the containment of pandemic.</jats:p>\n'
'</jats:sec>',
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