Mass Administration of Ivermectin: Effective Against Malaria

In a trial in Burkina Faso, repeated mass ivermectin administration substantially reduced malaria cases among children.

Oral ivermectin can kill mosquitoes that bite recipients of the drug (NEJM JW Infect Dis Jun 2018 and Lancet Infect Dis 2018; 18:P615). But can this agent effectively combat malaria? In a cluster-randomized trial in malaria-endemic Burkina Faso, investigators mass-administered an initial oral ivermectin dose (150–200 µg/kg) plus five additional doses every 3 weeks in four intervention villages; in four control villages, participants received only the initial dose.

Cumulative malaria incidence in children aged ≤5 years was significantly lower in the intervention villages than the control villages (risk ratio, 0.8), and the proportion of children with no malaria episodes was more than twofold higher (20% vs. 9%). In a subgroup analysis, decrea…

Reviewing Author

Mary E. Wilson, MD

Disclosures

Consultant/Advisory BoardOneHealthTrust (formerly Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics, and Policy); Global Health Institute, University of Wisconsin

RoyaltiesUpToDate

Editorial BoardsJournal of Travel Medicine

Mary E. Wilson, MD

Disclosures

Consultant/Advisory BoardOneHealthTrust (formerly Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics, and Policy); Global Health Institute, University of Wisconsin

RoyaltiesUpToDate

Editorial BoardsJournal of Travel Medicine

Mass Administration of Ivermectin: Effective Against Malaria

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Reviewing Author