KALABURAGI: A specialist from Melbourne has suggested to the doctors in India to prescribe Ivermectin to treat Covid-19.Addressing media here on Monday, Dr Shashikant Manikappa, specialist cardiac anesthetist of Monash Health, Melbourne (Australia), said that though several drugs have been used to treat Covid-19, there is scant data with regard to prophylaxis. He said a few medications like Hydroxychloroquine, and more recently Ivermectin, had shown some promise. The pre-official release of a randomised controlled trial using Ivermectin in three doses in primary contacts has shown significant difference. And 50 per cent of the patients who used this drug have shown good progress, he added.
Dr Shashikant said he has started using Ivermectin, Doxycycline, Zinc and Colchicine for treatment of corona more than three months ago and found this very effective. There are currently 28 Covid-19 Ivermectin treatment studies running globally. He said he is proposing quadruple therapy as prophylaxis against corona infection on similar lines as proposed by an Australian gastroenterologist, Prof Thomas Borody, who is known for curing peptic ulcers with triple antibiotic therapy.
In one of his interviews, Prof Borody had revealed that in South America, one block that received Ivermectin combination prophylaxis did not contract corona infection, while others did, Dr Shashikant said. He said that these medicines act together to prevent viral replication and also prevent from attaching to the AC2 receptors. This should offer hope in protecting against the virus or dampen the effects of the infection, he said.