4/14/2020 Head lice drug emerges as potential coronavirus treatment, studies show - ABC News

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coronavirus treatment, studies show Head lice drug emerges as

potential coronavirus treatment,
Too soon to call it a breakthrough, but experts are showing cautious optimism. studies show
Apr 14, 4:03 AM
By Jay Bhatt and Lucien Bruggeman
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What we know about anti-malaria drug amid coronavirus ght

Hydroxychloroquine was touted by President Donald Trump as a game changer, but side effects could
include seizures, nausea and potentially fatal heart arrhythmias. ABC News Live

From a century-old blood plasma therapy to an anti-malarial drug called

hydroxychloroquine, the scientific community is exploring new ways to
leverage existing treatments in the fight against the novel coronavirus.

The latest surprising lead for researchers is an antiparasitic drug called

ivermectin, sometimes used to treat head lice.
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Research into the drug’s viability in treating COVID-19 is still in its early
stages – far too soon to call it a breakthrough. But with the emergence of
two preliminary studies yielding promising results, experts are expressing
cautious optimism.

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4/14/2020 Head lice drug emerges as potential coronavirus treatment, studies show - ABC News

Mirimus, Inc. lab scientists work to validate rapid IgM/IgG antibody tests of COVID-19 samples from
recovered patients on April 10, 2020, in the Brooklyn, New York.
Misha Friedman/Getty Images

“Finding a safe, affordable, readily available therapy like ivermectin if it

proves effective with rigorous evaluation has the potential to save countless
lives,” said Dr. Nirav Shah, an infectious disease expert with the NorthShore
University HealthSystem.

The development of ivermectin as an anti-parasitic treatment dates back to

the 1970s and 1980s, first as a veterinary treatment for nematodes in cattle
and later as a way to combat river blindness in humans. More recently,
ivermectin is known for its topical use in treating head lice. Its use in
treating those and other parasites has earned ivermectin a spot on the
World Health Organization’s list of essential medicines.

But now, researchers are looking to the drug for broader use in killing off
SARS-Cov-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 – and earlier this month, a
team of scientists in Australia found just that in test tubes.

MORE: Can recovered coronavirus patients help combat the disease?

“We found that even a single dose could essentially remove all viral RNA by
48 hours and that even at 24 hours there was a really significant reduction
in it,” said Dr. Kylie Wagstaff, the leader of the team from Melbourne’s
Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute.

The coronavirus is not a parasite, but experts suggest that the drug
essentially treats it like one and blocks the viral RNA from invading healthy
cells. Unable to enter the cell, the RNA is slowed from replicating, giving
the patient's immune system more time to fight it off.

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4/14/2020 Head lice drug emerges as potential coronavirus treatment, studies show - ABC News

Mirimus lab scientists prepare to test COVID-19 samples from recovered patients, on April 8, 2020, in
Brooklyn, New York.
Misha Friedman/Getty Images

The Monash study took place at the cellular level, or in vitro. The next step,
authors note, is “to determine the correct human dosage – ensuring the
doses shown to effectively treat the virus in vitro are safe for humans.”

But with limited options elsewhere, experts say those early in vitro results
are compelling.

“There are numerous examples of drugs with in vitro activity not proving
effective in human studies,” said Shah. “That being said, given there are no
proven therapies against COVID-19 to date and we are in the midst of a
pandemic, drugs that show promise in early in vitro or observational
studies such as ivermectin should be rigorously evaluated to understand
safety and effectiveness.”

Separately, a small observational registry-based study spearheaded by

researchers at the University of Utah found that “critically ill patients with
lung injury requiring mechanical ventilation may benefit from
administration of Ivermectin.”

MORE: Trump adviser Navarro clashes with Fauci on hydroxychloroquine to

treat COVID-19

“We noted a lower mortality and reduced healthcare resource use in those
treated with ivermectin,” wrote Dr. Amit Patel, the lead author of the
University of Utah team. Dr. Patel also went onto say that main
contraindication is in patients with liver failure and the risk profile may not
be as significant as the combination of hydroxychloroquine and
azithromycin.

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4/14/2020 Head lice drug emerges as potential coronavirus treatment, studies show - ABC News

In this April 3, 2020, le photo, the COVID-19 coronavirus is shown.

European Centre For Disease Prevention And Control via DDP via /ZUMA Press, FILE

Both studies are careful to note that their findings, while promising,
require further examination.

“I think between the two studies, there is some optimism -- but I would
remain cautious,” said Dr. Christopher DeSimone, an infectious disease
specialist at the Mayo Clinic.

Federal regulators have also taken note – but only in the form of a warning.

Because ivermectin is still widely used to treat parasitic worms in some

animals, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration wrote last Friday that it “is
concerned about the health of consumers who may self-medicate by taking
ivermectin products intended for animals, thinking they can be a
substitute for ivermectin intended for humans.”

Experts plea that consumers do not take ivermectin at home, as dangerous

consequences of the drug include widespread body swelling, liver injury,
and serious neurological harm.

“Additional testing is needed to determine whether ivermectin might be

safe or effective to prevent or treat coronavirus or COVID-19,” the agency
concluded.

Still, with so few options and time being of the essence, experts are hopeful
that with further testing, ivermectin can be dispatched to combat the
illness.

Jay Bhatt, a practicing internist, is a chief clinical officer at Surgisphere and an

ABC News contributor.

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