TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – There are many pros and cons of using antiparasitic drugs ivermectin for Covid-19. Some urged its widespread use in order to escape the grip of an increasingly strong pandemic, while others asked to wait for the results of large-scale clinical trials to ensure the efficacy of the deworming drug and the safety of its users.
Di antara kontroversi yang semakin tinggi, Merck, yang membuat ivermectin, ternyata telah mengeluarkan sikapnya sejak Februari lalu. Saat itu, perusahaan farmasi Jerman yang berbasis di New Jersey, Amerika Serikat, ini menyatakan tidak yakin obat cacing yang diproduksinya tersebut bisa digunakan untuk Covid-19.
"Perusahaan tidak yakin data yang ada saat ini mendukung keselamatan dan efikasi ivermectin untuk digunakan mengobati Covid-19," bunyi bagian dari pernyataan Merck pada 4 Februari 2021, seperti dikutip dari situs web resmi perusahaan itu.
Merck menambahkan, tim peneliti di perusahaan itu terus menguji dengan hati-hati seluruh temuan dan studi yang bermunculan tentang ivermectin sebagai obat Covid-19. Tapi yang jelas, Merck menyatakan kalau hingga saat ini analisis perusahaan menyatakan tak ada basis ilmiah untuk potensi efek terapi ivermectin melawan Covid-19 dari studi-studi praklinisnya.
Merck also identified that there is no significant evidence for the clinical activity or clinical efficacy of the drug in Covid-19 patients. Finally, Merck is concerned about the lack of safety data in the majority of studies.
Merck is licensed for distribution of ivermectin in the United States under the STROMECTOL brand. The indication according to the label is for the treatment of strongyloidiasis or gastrointestinal infections due to roundworm parasitic infections Strongyloides stercoralis and for the treatment of onchocerciasis or river blindness due to parasitic helminth infections Onchocerca volvulus.
Workers doing research at the drug factory PT Merck Tbk in Jakarta, Thursday (14/4). Throughout 2010, PT Merck Tbk, a German Pharmaceutical and Chemical company, recorded sales growth in almost all divisions with a total sales growth of 5.9% or Rp 796 billion from Rp 751 billion in the previous year. TEMPO/Eko Siswono Toyudho
Its users are not intended for pregnant women. Low concentrations of ivermectin are also, be warned, excreted in breast milk. Giving this medicine to a nursing mother should take into account that delaying treatment poses a greater risk to the mother than the risk the baby may bear.
In addition to pregnant women, the level of safety and effectiveness of ivermectin for pediatric patients (body weight less than 15 kilograms) is also unknown. Clinical trial ivermectin nor does it include those 65 years of age or older.
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