Use ivermectin + doxycycline for patients with heart conditions, which make HCQ + azithromycin dangerous. Makes sense. Doesn't say if IVM + DOXY works.

Indian authorities stand by HCQ despite the Lancet article: "doctors in the West were administering double the dose recommended in India." Still, ivermectin used started last week -- no doubt because of the Lancet article.

#MUMBAI: An anti-parasitic drug and an antibiotic used in the city to beat leptospirosis are being offered as a new combination against Covid-19. The anti-parasitic drug called ivermectin and antibiotic doxycycline made their entry into Mumbai hospitals last week after the state task force advised its use.

"It is mainly for patients who have heart rhythm problems and cannot be given the usual combination of antimalarial drug HCQS and antibiotic Azithromycin,” said Dr Shashank Joshi, dean of the Indian College of Physicians.

Last week, an article in international medical journal, The Lancet, said American doctors had found the combination of HCQS and Azithromycin increased deaths. Indian authorities have since reiterated their faith in HCQS, stating doctors in the West were administering double the dose recommended in India.

Around the same time, doctors from Bangladesh published a report about 60 critical patients getting cured within four days with the Ivermetic-doxycyline combination. “The Maharashtra task force members spoke to the doctors from Bangladesh, and it was felt the combination can be used in India as well,” said a senior doctor from a public hospital.

Ivermectin is cleared by authorities as an anti-parasitic drug to treat head lice, scabies, ascariasis, and lymphatic filarias. In March, a study by Monash University in Australia said ivermectin could control viral load in Covid-19 patients. It hasn’t been officially cleared by any country to fight Covid-19. Doxycycline is an old antibiotic commonly used to treat respiratory tract infections and leptospirosis.

Dr Gautam Bhansali from Bombay Hospital said 20-30 patients in the hospital have been given the combination. Infectious diseases specialist Dr Om Srivastava said the combination has to be studied before it can be widely advised. A senior doctor from a south Mumbai hospital said doctors are prescribing drugs as per their judgement instead of following guidelines.

permalink

I keep seeing Indian hospitals leaning more towards HCQ even though it was banned by WHO. Question arises in mind if them being a top HCQ exporter is influencing their decision making on treatment

permalink