Is Ivermectin Really Effective Against Covid-19?

Ivermectin, a drug known for fighting parasites, has been a hot topic in the fight against Covid-19. Some people believe it can lower the risk of death from the virus. Two recent studies looked at the same group of clinical trials and used similar statistical methods. Surprisingly, they came to different conclusions. One study said ivermectin works, while the other said there isn't enough solid evidence to support that claim. A new study has taken a different approach. It used a method called Bayesian analysis on a part of the same trial data. This method tests different ideas about how ivermectin affects Covid-19 severity and death rates. The goal is to see if using different methods leads to the same conclusions, which would make the results more reliable. The study found strong evidence that ivermectin is linked to lower death rates in Covid-19 patients. For severe cases, there's a 90. 7% chance that ivermectin is more effective. For mild to moderate cases, that chance is 84. 1%. To make sure the results are solid, the study checked by removing one study at a time. Even without the most questionable study, the results still held up. This shows that the findings are robust. The study also points out that Bayesian methods have some advantages over traditional statistical methods for combining results from multiple studies. All the studies included in this analysis were done before the delta variant of Covid-19 emerged.