<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?><article xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
<front>
<journal-meta>
<journal-id>1657-9534</journal-id>
<journal-title><![CDATA[Colombia Médica]]></journal-title>
<abbrev-journal-title><![CDATA[Colomb. Med.]]></abbrev-journal-title>
<issn>1657-9534</issn>
<publisher>
<publisher-name><![CDATA[Universidad del Valle]]></publisher-name>
</publisher>
</journal-meta>
<article-meta>
<article-id>S1657-95342020000400201</article-id>
<article-id pub-id-type="doi">10.25100/cm.v51i4.4613</article-id>
<title-group>
<article-title xml:lang="en"><![CDATA[COVID-19: The Ivermectin African Enigma]]></article-title>
<article-title xml:lang="es"><![CDATA[COVID-19: El enigma de la Ivermectina en Africa]]></article-title>
</title-group>
<contrib-group>
<contrib contrib-type="author">
<name>
<surname><![CDATA[Guerrero]]></surname>
<given-names><![CDATA[Rodrigo]]></given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="Aff"/>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author">
<name>
<surname><![CDATA[Bravo]]></surname>
<given-names><![CDATA[Luis Eduardo]]></given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="Aff"/>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="Aaf"/>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author">
<name>
<surname><![CDATA[Muñoz]]></surname>
<given-names><![CDATA[Edgar]]></given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="Aff"/>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author">
<name>
<surname><![CDATA[Ardila]]></surname>
<given-names><![CDATA[Elvia Karina Grillo]]></given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="Aff"/>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author">
<name>
<surname><![CDATA[Guerrero]]></surname>
<given-names><![CDATA[Esteban]]></given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="Aff"/>
</contrib>
</contrib-group>
<aff id="Af1">
<institution><![CDATA[,Universidad del Valle Instituto de Investigación y Desarrollo en Prevención de la Violencia y Promoción de la Convivencia Social, CISALVA ]]></institution>
<addr-line><![CDATA[Cali ]]></addr-line>
<country>Colombia</country>
</aff>
<aff id="Af2">
<institution><![CDATA[,Universidad del Valle Facultad de Salud Escuela de Medicina]]></institution>
<addr-line><![CDATA[Cali ]]></addr-line>
<country>Colombia</country>
</aff>
<aff id="Af3">
<institution><![CDATA[,Registro Poblacional de Cáncer  ]]></institution>
<addr-line><![CDATA[Cali ]]></addr-line>
<country>Colombia</country>
</aff>
<aff id="Af4">
<institution><![CDATA[,University of Texas Health Science Center ]]></institution>
<addr-line><![CDATA[San Antonio Texas]]></addr-line>
<country>USA</country>
</aff>
<aff id="Af5">
<institution><![CDATA[,Universidad del Valle Facultad de Salud Doctorado en Salud]]></institution>
<addr-line><![CDATA[Cali ]]></addr-line>
<country>Colombia</country>
</aff>
<aff id="Af6">
<institution><![CDATA[,Barbara&amp;Frick  ]]></institution>
<addr-line><![CDATA[Bogotá ]]></addr-line>
<country>Colombia</country>
</aff>
<pub-date pub-type="pub">
<day>00</day>
<month>12</month>
<year>2020</year>
</pub-date>
<pub-date pub-type="epub">
<day>00</day>
<month>12</month>
<year>2020</year>
</pub-date>
<volume>51</volume>
<numero>4</numero>
<copyright-statement/>
<copyright-year/>
<self-uri xlink:href="http://www.scielo.org.co/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&amp;pid=S1657-95342020000400201&amp;lng=en&amp;nrm=iso"></self-uri><self-uri xlink:href="http://www.scielo.org.co/scielo.php?script=sci_abstract&amp;pid=S1657-95342020000400201&amp;lng=en&amp;nrm=iso"></self-uri><self-uri xlink:href="http://www.scielo.org.co/scielo.php?script=sci_pdf&amp;pid=S1657-95342020000400201&amp;lng=en&amp;nrm=iso"></self-uri><abstract abstract-type="short" xml:lang="en"><p><![CDATA[Abstract  Introduction: The low frequency of cases and deaths from the SARS-CoV-2 COVID-19 virus in some countries of Africa has called our attention about the unusual behavior of this disease. The ivermectin is considered a drug of choice for various parasitic and viral diseases and shown to have in vitro effects against SARS-CoV-2.  Aims:  Our study aimed to describe SARS-CoV2 infection and death rates in African countries that participated in an intensive Ivermectin mass campaign carried out to control onchocerciasis and compare them with those of countries that did not participate.  Methods:  Data from 19 countries that participated in the World Health Organization (WHO) sponsored African Programme for Onchocerciasis Control (APOC), from 1995 until 2015, were compared with thirty-five (Non-APOC), countries that were not included. Information was obtained from https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/ database. Generalized Poisson regression models were used to obtain estimates of the effect of APOC status on cumulative SARS-CoV-2 infection and mortality rates.  Results:  After controlling for different factors, including the Human Development Index (HDI), APOC countries (vs. non-APOC), show 28% lower mortality (0.72; 95% CI: 0.67-0.78) and 8% lower rate of infection (0.92; 95% CI: 0.91-0.93) due to COVID-19.  Conclusions: The incidence in mortality rates and number of cases is significantly lower among the APOC countries compared to non-APOC countries. That a mass public health preventive campaign against COVID-19 may have taken place, inadvertently, in some African countries with massive community ivermectin use is an attractive hypothesis. Additional studies are needed to confirm it.]]></p></abstract>
<abstract abstract-type="short" xml:lang="es"><p><![CDATA[Resumen  Introducción:  La baja frecuencia de casos y muertes por el virus SARS-CoV-2 COVID-19 en algunos países de África llamó nuestra atención sobre el comportamiento inusual de esta enfermedad. La ivermectina se considera un fármaco de elección para diversas enfermedades parasitarias y virales, y se ha demostrado que tiene efectos in vitro contra el SARS-CoV-2.  Objetivos:  Nuestro estudio tiene el objetivo describir las tasas de infección y mortalidad del SARS-CoV-2 en los países africanos que participaron en una campaña intensiva masiva de ivermectina para el control de la oncocercosis y compararlas con las de los países que no participaron.  Métodos: Los datos de 19 países que participaron en el Programa Africano para el Control de la Oncocercosis (APOC) patrocinado por la Organización Mundial de la Salud (OMS), desde 1995 hasta 2015, se compararon con 35 países que no fueron incluidos (NO APOC). La información sobre casos y muertes por COVID-19 se obtuvo de la base de datos https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/. Se utilizaron modelos de regresión de Poisson para obtener estimaciones del efecto del estado APOC sobre las tasas acumuladas de infección y mortalidad por SARS-CoV-2.  Resultados:  Después de controlar diferentes factores, incluido el Índice de Desarrollo Humano (IDH), los países APOC (frente a los no APOC) mostraron una mortalidad 28% menor (razón de tasas ajustada: RR= 0.72, IC 95%: 0.67-0.78) y una tasa de infección 8% menor (RR= 0.92, IC 95%: 0.91-0.93) por COVID-19.  Conclusiones: Las tasas de mortalidad e infección son significativamente más bajas en países APOC en comparación con los países no APOC. Una campaña preventiva masiva de salud pública contra el COVID-19 pudo haber tenido lugar inadvertidamente en algunos países africanos con un uso masivo de ivermectina en la comunidad es una hipótesis atractiva. Se necesitan estudios adicionales para confirmarlo.]]></p></abstract>
<kwd-group>
<kwd lng="en"><![CDATA[Onchocerciasis]]></kwd>
<kwd lng="en"><![CDATA[ivermectin]]></kwd>
<kwd lng="en"><![CDATA[elephantiasis]]></kwd>
<kwd lng="en"><![CDATA[filariasis]]></kwd>
<kwd lng="en"><![CDATA[albendazole]]></kwd>
<kwd lng="en"><![CDATA[confounding factors epidemiologic]]></kwd>
<kwd lng="en"><![CDATA[COVID-19]]></kwd>
<kwd lng="en"><![CDATA[life expectancy]]></kwd>
<kwd lng="en"><![CDATA[onchocerciasis ocular]]></kwd>
<kwd lng="en"><![CDATA[severe acute respiratory syndrome]]></kwd>
<kwd lng="en"><![CDATA[coronavirus 2]]></kwd>
<kwd lng="en"><![CDATA[coronavirus infections]]></kwd>
<kwd lng="es"><![CDATA[Ivermectina]]></kwd>
<kwd lng="es"><![CDATA[elefantiasis]]></kwd>
<kwd lng="es"><![CDATA[filariasis]]></kwd>
<kwd lng="es"><![CDATA[albendazol]]></kwd>
<kwd lng="es"><![CDATA[factores de confusión epidemiológica]]></kwd>
<kwd lng="es"><![CDATA[COVID-19]]></kwd>
<kwd lng="es"><![CDATA[esperanza de vida]]></kwd>
<kwd lng="es"><![CDATA[oncocercosis ocular]]></kwd>
<kwd lng="es"><![CDATA[oncocercosis]]></kwd>
<kwd lng="es"><![CDATA[coronavirus]]></kwd>
<kwd lng="es"><![CDATA[sindrome respiratorio agudo severo]]></kwd>
<kwd lng="es"><![CDATA[coronavirus 2]]></kwd>
<kwd lng="es"><![CDATA[infección por conronavirus]]></kwd>
</kwd-group>
</article-meta>
</front><back>
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