University of Virginia seeks participants for COVID-19 treatment study that includes Ivermectin

The University of Virginia department of health is gearing up to conduct a nationwide study on drugs that effectively treat COVID-19, including one at the center of the debate over doctors prescribing known treatments for off-label use during the pandemic.

Researchers will study Fluvoxamine, an anti-depressant, and Ivermectin, a pill often used to treat parasitic infections, in people who test positive for COVID. The scientists will run the study on 15,000 participants ages 30 and up who test positive for symptomatic COVID.

Individuals participating may be (and are, in fact, encouraged to be) vaccinated and boosted, according to the principal Investigator for the clinical trial. 

"If we can find drugs that are currently FDA approved, cheap, and readily available throughout the world I think that really gets us much closer to being able to turn COVID-19 into a mild illness where people can kind of get therapy," said Dr. Patrick Jackson, the lead researcher. 

Jackson said the two drugs were selected because there have been indications that each can be helpful treating the viral illness. Fluvoxamine, typically used to treat depression, has been shown to decrease inflammation.

Ivermectin, Jackson said, can be used to "stop many viruses from replicating."

"Not everything that happens in a petri dish pans out to be useful in a human being. But that’s part of the reason why this drug has been included in this clinical trial," he added.