A Retrospective Study on Pre Exposure Hydroxychloroquine and Ivermectin Prophylaxis for COVID-19 in Healthcare Workers in a Tertiary Care Hospital

Abstract

Background:COVID-19 was declared a ‘pandemic’ by the WHO on 11th March, 2020. The high infectivity and unique transmission potentials of the causative agent of COVID-19, namely, SARS-CoV-2 were the reasons behind its wide-scale spread and made health care workers (HCWs), the most ‘at-risk population’ for acquiring the infection.The administration of HCQs and/or Ivermectin prophylaxis was one of the most commonly used stratagems recommended to protect the HCWs prior to the development of an effective vaccine. But data on its effectiveness, if any, were not conclusive. Also the above strategy was not accepted by many HCWs themselves for a plethora of reasons. Hence a systematic enquiry into the above conundrums was felt to be the need of the hour. Objective: 1.To assesses the effectiveness of HCQs and Ivermectin as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) drugs against SARS-CoV-2 infection among HCWs in a tertiary care hospital. 2. To identify the reason(s) behind avoidance of PrEPamong HCWs. Materials and methods: We conducted a retrospective study based on an online/ offline/ telephonic survey on HCWs directly related to COVID care services. Results: Total 336 HCWs responded to our survey. There were segregated intotwo cohort groups, namely, those taking PrEP (n=148; exposed) and those avoidingPrEP (n=188; control). In the PrEPgroup, 26 (17.56%) out of 148 participants reported to have tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 during some point of time, whereas, in the control group, 38 (20.21%) out of 188 participants reported to have been SARS-CoV-2 positive. We found no significant reduction SARS-CoV-2 cases in exposed group with relative risk of 0.8691 (95% Confidence Intervals 0.5542 to 1.363, p <0.3181).Conclusions: Our study demonstrated that voluntary consumption of PrEP by HCWs is not associated with a statistically significant reduction in risk of SARS-CoV-2.