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Comment by hannob | Hacker News Reader

I clicked on the first study:

"Small 116 patient RCT with low-risk patients comparing Ivermectin-Doxycycline and HCQ+AZ, showing lower hospitalization, higher viral clearance, and faster symptom resolution and viral clearance with ivermectin+doxycycline."

So they compared Ivermecitin + another drug to Hydroxycloroquine and Azithromycin. Hydroxycloroquine was, for those who remember, the hype drug early in the covid pandemic, based on flimsy studies (just like... Ivermecitin now). Later evidence indicated that hydroxycloroquine may actually be harmful.

So if anything, this study shows that Ivermectin-Doxycycline is less harmful than HCQ+AZ.

This was just the first study in that list, but if the first study is already bogus call me skeptical about the rest.

Update: I clicked on another study. It compares "ivermectin and ivermectin + doxycycline". It does not have a control group...

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>> Later a lot of evidence has been gathered that hydroxycloroquine is actually harmful

Where is this evidence ? Are you referring to this https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6... ?

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/hydroxychloroquine-not-effectiv...

> A panel of WHO experts found that the drug has no meaningful effect on deaths or hospitalizations due to coronavirus. They added that it may even increase the risk of adverse effects.

https://www.fda.gov/drugs/drug-safety-and-availability/fda-c...

> A summary of the FDA review of safety issues with the use of hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine to treat hospitalized patients with COVID-19 is now available. This includes reports of serious heart rhythm problems and other safety issues, including blood and lymph system disorders, kidney injuries, and liver problems and failure.

> Based on ongoing analysis and emerging scientific data, FDA has revoked the emergency use authorization (EUA) to use hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine to treat COVID-19 in certain hospitalized patients when a clinical trial is unavailable or participation is not feasible. We made this determination based on recent results from a large, randomized clinical trial in hospitalized patients that found these medicines showed no benefit for decreasing the likelihood of death or speeding recovery.

https://scitechdaily.com/the-end-of-hydroxychloroquine-as-a-...

> A year after the treatment trial launched in five cities, Johnston can say hydroxychloroquine had no effect in treating people with COVID-19. The results of the remote randomized, placebo-controlled trial were published on February 26, 2021, in E Clinical Medicine.

"He's dead, Jim."

I've toned down the wording a bit, it seems the evidence for actual harm isn't that strong. I won't try to defend a retracted study.

Doesn't change the fact that a study comparing 2 mixtures of drugs against each other is no evidence of any positive effect of ivermectin.

> Hydroxycloroquine was, for those who remember, the hype drug early in the covid pandemic, based on flimsy studies (just like... Ivermecitin now)

I think it was suggested as it had been successfully used to treat the previous SARS outbreak, that being the closest virus we have to this one.

> I think it was suggested as it had been successfully used to treat the previous SARS outbreak...

It wasn't, though. The study in question was limited to animal testing in a lab setting. https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-factcheck-chloroquine-sar...

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