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    Social Media Posts Repeat Inaccurate Reporting on Ivermectin and Omicron

    by D'Angelo Gore Feb 02, 2022 7 minutes

    SciCheck Digest

    A Japanese company found that the antiparasitic drug ivermectin showed an “antiviral effect” against the omicron variant in a lab setting. Reuters has corrected a story in which it “misstated” that the drug was effective in a phase 3 clinical trial with human subjects. Some social media users have repeated Reuters’ reporting error but have not repeated the correction.

    What treatments are available for COVID-19?

    There are no cures for COVID-19, but an increasing number of evidence-based treatments have been identified. Most of these have emergency use authorization, rather than full approval, from the Food and Drug Administration.

    At the end of December 2021, the FDA authorized for emergency use the first oral antivirals for COVID-19, Pfizer’s Paxlovid and Merck’s molnupiravir. Both drugs are authorized for patients with mild-to-moderate COVID-19 who are at high risk of severe disease. The pills should be given as early as possible and no later than five days after symptoms begin.

    Paxlovid consists of nirmatrelvir, a protease inhibitor that prevents replication of the coronavirus, or SARS-CoV-2; and ritonavir, a drug that slows breakdown of nirmatrelvir. Paxlovid was found in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial to reduce COVID-19-related hospitalization or death from any cause by 88% compared with a placebo after 28 days of follow-up.

    Molnupiravir also prevents

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