Use Ivermectin for Covid treatment: Doctor to Union health minister

A retired surgeon from Kodagu has written to Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan suggesting the use of the drug Ivermectin as a safe and economical medicine to treat Covid-19 patients.

Dr Kavery Nambisan, a retired surgeon who is practising in Ponnampet, has written to the Union health minister to endorse Ivermectin as an early treatment for Covid-19.

She explained that the drug is highly effective against Covid-19, particularly in the early stage of the disease.

“It is safe and has been in use for other conditions by several million people worldwide without any harmful side effects. It is safer than any antibiotic currently in use and is cheap as well. Several large clinical peer-reviewed trials around the world have shown that the drug Ivermectin reduces virus multiplication effectively in 74% of the patients and prevents the second or inflammatory stage when complications frequently happen. Even if an Ivermectin user gets Covid-19 it will be a mild attack or not serious,” Dr Kavery Nambisan added.

Though ICMR and AIIMS had endorsed its use, it has not received the attention or follow up it deserved, she has affirmed in the letter.

She has said that she has successfully treated patients by prescribing Ivermectin.

“The use of Ivermectin will reduce Covid infections, transmission, virus mutations and death. It is only among the very few who reach the second stage of the disease that we need to do blood tests and give a short course of low-dose steroid and anticoagulant. The percentage of patients that will need hospital admission, oxygen and critical care will be greatly reduced with the use of Ivermectin,” she said in her letter.

She added that doctors in the states of Orissa, Goa and Uttar Pradesh were using Ivermectin as an early treatment for Covid patients.

She has requested the health minister to take a decisive step and make the use of Ivermectin mandatory in the early stages of the disease.

It could be provided in the home kits distributed to Covid-19 patients by Asha workers, she said.

The preventive measures should be used for all frontline workers who have to go out of their house to work and come in contact with others, she added.

She further said that vaccination of an adequate number of people will no doubt stop the spread of the virus. In India, it will take several months to vaccinate at least 70% of the population. During this period, the unprotected population will continue to get infected and transmission of disease will continue.

The repeated mutations will lead to a cycle of repeated vaccinations and boosters and India will remain in the pandemic mode for several years, added Dr Kavery Nambisan.