Reflecting on ivermectin use in Zimbabwe, Dr Jackie Stone describes how covid-19 is now under control and everyone has the drug in their home medicine cupboard.
In patients with oxygen saturations of 39-90% there was a 3.8% death rate amongst patients cared for by the Hospital at Home scheme compared to the State hospital that has a 35% death rate – almost a tenfold reduction in mortality. In Zimbabwe at the moment, covid is very much under control. Dr Stone is concerned that people might become complacent and discontinue regular prophylactic doses of ivermectin. This matters because there is some concern that Zimbabwe tends to follow Kenya where a third wave is occurring at present.
Ivermectin in the medicine cupboard
Everyone in Zimbabwe now has ivermectin at home and they know the correct protocol for prophylaxis and treatment. Informal communication via WhatsApp usually ensures that important information is rapidly disseminated throughout the country. “People know exactly what to do. So, this time people are getting sick but it’s common for someone to come into me and say, “Listen I started feeling a bit fluey last night – I hope you don’t mind I took some ivermectin last night and I’m here this morning just to check”. So, patients see this as a safe, self-administered medication”, says Dr Stone.
WHO recommendation
Regarding the recent WHO guidance on ivermectin Dr Stone said, “I find it very hard to understand how they can say that there is not sufficient evidence. There are three thousand patients plus in, I think, 24 trials where they demonstrate an over 75% reduction in mortality. Those figures fit exactly with what we have seen”.
She also felt that Zimbabwe was very fortunate to have decisive leadership in the Health Department. “Our Permanent Secretary of Health is a military man, a practical man and a solution-based man and he likes fast solutions. We’ve been very lucky that we were permitted to use it and we can freely use it as doctors now. And for us it makes absolute logical sense in terms of its mechanisms of action. It fits with what we see clinically and so people who [want to] follow the WHO guidelines can do so but if we follow them we are going to go back to 70 deaths a day”, she said.
Read full story here: Source: Lessons from the Zimbabwe ivermectin experience – Medical Update Online